Discontinuous reception for multicarrier systems with flexible bandwidth carrier

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices are provided for discontinuous reception (DRX) alignment for multicarrier systems that may utilize one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. Tools and techniques are provided that may help ensure signaling alignment, such as with respect to DRX cycles, in multicarrier systems that may utilize one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and/or systems that may utilize multiple different flexible bandwidth carriers. Some methods may include identifying a DRX cycle for a first cell and/or adjusting a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell such that the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with a boundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell, where at least the first cell or the second cell comprises at least one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers.

CROSS REFERENCES

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/812,164, titled: “SIGNALING ALIGNMENT FORMULTICARRIER SYSTEMS WITH FLEXIBLE BANDWIDTH CARRIER,” filed on Apr. 15,2013, assigned to the assignee hereof, and expressly incorporated byreference herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be multiple-accesssystems capable of supporting communication with multiple users bysharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, andpower). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code-divisionmultiple access (CDMA) systems, time-division multiple access (TDMA)systems, frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP LongTerm Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency-division multipleaccess (OFDMA) systems.

Service providers are typically allocated blocks of frequency spectrumfor exclusive use in certain geographic regions. These blocks offrequencies are generally assigned by regulators regardless of themultiple access technology being used. In most cases, these blocks arenot integer multiples of channel bandwidths, hence there may beunutilized parts of the spectrum. As the use of wireless devices hasincreased, the demand for and value of this spectrum has generallysurged, as well. Nonetheless, in some cases, wireless communicationssystems may not utilize portions of the allocated spectrum because theportions are not big enough to fit a standard or normal waveform. Thedevelopers of the LTE standard, for example, recognized the problem anddecided to support many different system bandwidths (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5,10, 15 and 20 MHz). This may provide one partial solution to theproblem.

Flexible bandwidth systems, also referred to herein as scalablebandwidth systems, may provide for better utilization of bandwidthresources. However, some flexible bandwidth systems may face timingissues, including discontinuous reception signaling timing, when theyinclude multiple carriers that utilize different bandwidths.

SUMMARY

Methods, systems, and devices are provided for discontinuous reception(DRX) in a multicarrier system that may utilize one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers. For example, tools and techniques are provided thatmay help ensure alignment with respect to DRX cycles in multicarriersystems that may utilize one or more normal bandwidth carriers and oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers or in systems that may utilizemultiple different flexible bandwidth carriers.

Flexible bandwidth carriers for wireless communications systems mayutilize portions of spectrum that may not be big enough to fit a normalwaveform utilizing flexible bandwidth waveforms. A flexible bandwidthsystem that utilizes a flexible bandwidth carrier may be generated withrespect to a normal bandwidth system through dilating, or scaling down,the time or the chip rate of the flexible bandwidth system with respectto the normal bandwidth system. Some embodiments may increase thebandwidth of a waveform through expanding, or scaling up, the time orthe chip rate of the flexible bandwidth system.

In multicarrier systems that may utilize one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers, misalignment of DRX cycles between multiple carriers may causean increase in power consumption. An increase in power consumption maybe due to the fact that the DRX cycles are misaligned and do not havethe same period (e.g., due to time dilation, the ‘wake-up’ period islonger for N=2 or 4 vs. N=1) and consequently the receiver is listeningfor a longer time period per DRX cycle than would otherwise be the case.These problems may be addressed by aligning the DRX cycles for at leasttwo carriers in a multicarrier system, for example, by aligning at leastone boundary, such as a starting boundary and/or an ending boundary, ofthe DRX cycles. Other solutions may include adjusting a length of theDRX cycle for the second cell to either increase or decrease a number ofmonitored subframes with respect to the first cell. These problems mayalso be addressed by identifying a periodicity for a first cell andadjusting a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the second cell to bescaled by a bandwidth scaling factor with of the first cell. In someembodiments, these problems may be addressed by transmitting to and/orreceiving at a user equipment (UE) at least one or more offsets or cyclelengths to facilitate adjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle for thesecond cell.

Some embodiments include a method of discontinuous reception (DRX) in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. The method may include: identifying a DRX cycle for a firstcell; and/or adjusting a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell suchthat the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with aboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell. At least the first cellor the second cell may include at least one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers.

In some embodiments, the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first celland the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell both include atleast a starting boundary or an ending boundary. In some cases, a periodof the DRX cycle for the second cell is different from a period of theDRX cycle for the first cell.

Some embodiments of the method further include adjusting a length of theDRX cycle for the second cell to either increase or decrease a number ofmonitored subframes with respect to the first cell. Some embodimentsinclude: identifying a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell;and/or adjusting a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the second cell atleast to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factor withrespect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell. Someembodiments include transmitting to and/or receiving at a user equipment(UE) at least one or more offsets or cycle lengths to facilitateadjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell. Someembodiments include ignoring an initial assigned subframe for a DRXorder for the second cell that overlaps an enabling or activation delayfor the first cell.

In some embodiments, the first cell includes a normal bandwidth carrierand the second cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. In some embodiments, the first cell includes a flexiblebandwidth carrier and the second cell includes one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In someconfigurations, the first cell includes one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers and the second cell includes a normal bandwidthcarrier. The first cell may include one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers and the second cell may include one of the one ormore flexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell in someconfigurations. The first cell may include a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 1 and the second cell may include a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 2 or 4 in some configurations.

Some embodiments include a system for discontinuous reception (DRX) in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. The system may include: means for identifying a DRX cycle fora first cell; and/or means for adjusting a boundary for a DRX cycle fora second cell such that the boundary for the DRX cycle for the secondcell coincides with a boundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell. Atleast the first cell or the second cell may include at least one of theone or more flexible bandwidth carriers.

In some embodiments, the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first celland the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell both include atleast a starting boundary or an ending boundary. A period of the DRXcycle for the second cell may be different from a period of the DRXcycle for the first cell.

Some embodiments include means for adjusting a length of the DRX cyclefor the second cell to either increase or decrease a number of monitoredsubframes with respect to the first cell. Some embodiments include:means for identifying a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell;and/or means for adjusting a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the secondcell at least to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factorwith respect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell.Some embodiments include means for transmitting to and/or receiving at auser equipment (UE) at least one or more offsets or cycle lengths tofacilitate adjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell.Some embodiments include means for ignoring an initial assigned subframefor a DRX order for the second cell that overlaps an enabling oractivation delay for the first cell.

In some embodiments of the system, the first cell includes a normalbandwidth carrier and the second cell comprises one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers. In some embodiments, the first cellincludes a flexible bandwidth carrier and the second cell includes oneof the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the firstcell. In some configurations, the first cell includes one of the one ormore flexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell includes a normalbandwidth carrier. The first cell may include one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell may include one of theone or more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell insome configurations. The first cell may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 1 and the second cell may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 2 or 4 in some configurations.

Some embodiments include a computer program product for discontinuousreception (DRX) in a multicarrier system that utilizes one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers that may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium that may include: code for identifying a DRXcycle for a first cell; and/or code for adjusting a boundary for a DRXcycle for a second cell such that the boundary for the DRX cycle for thesecond cell coincides with a boundary for the DRX cycle for the firstcell. At least the first cell or the second cell comprises at least oneof the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers.

In some embodiments, the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first celland the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell both include atleast a starting boundary or an ending boundary. A period of the DRXcycle for the second cell is different from a period of the DRX cyclefor the first cell.

Some embodiments include code for adjusting a length of the DRX cyclefor the second cell to either increase or decrease a number of monitoredsubframes with respect to the first cell. Some embodiments include: codefor identifying a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell;and/or code for adjusting a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the secondcell at least to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factorwith respect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell.Some embodiments include code for transmitting to and/or receiving at auser equipment (UE) at least one or more offsets or cycle lengths tofacilitate adjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell.Some embodiments include code for ignoring an initial assigned subframefor a DRX order for the second cell that overlaps an enabling oractivation delay for the first cell.

In some embodiments of the computer program product, the first cellincludes a normal bandwidth carrier and the second cell comprises one ofthe one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. In some embodiments, thefirst cell includes a flexible bandwidth carrier and the second cellincludes one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers differentfrom the first cell. In some configurations, the first cell includes oneof the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the second cellincludes a normal bandwidth carrier. The first cell may include one ofthe one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell mayinclude one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers differentfrom the first cell in some configurations. The first cell may include abandwidth scaling factor equal to 1 and the second cell may include abandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4 in some configurations.

Some embodiments include a wireless communications device configured fordiscontinuous reception (DRX) in a multicarrier system that utilizes oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers. The device may include at least oneprocessor that may be configured to: identify a DRX cycle for a firstcell; and/or adjust a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell suchthat the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with aboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell. At least the first cellor the second cell may include at least one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers.

The boundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell and the boundary forthe DRX cycle for the second cell both may include at least a startingboundary or an ending boundary. A period of the DRX cycle for the secondcell may be different from a period of the DRX cycle for the first cell.

The at least one processor may be further configured to: adjust a lengthof the DRX cycle for the second cell to either increase or decrease anumber of monitored subframes with respect to the first cell. The atleast one processor may be further configured to: identify a periodicityof the DRX cycle for the first cell; and/or adjust a periodicity of theDRX cycle for the second cell at least to coincide or be scaled by abandwidth scaling factor with respect to the periodicity of the DRXcycle for the first cell. The at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to transmit to and/or receiving at a user equipment (UE) atleast one or more offsets or cycle lengths to facilitate adjusting theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell. The at least oneprocessor may be further configured to ignore an initial assignedsubframe for a DRX order for the second cell that overlaps an enablingor activation delay for the first cell.

In some embodiments of the device, the first cell includes a normalbandwidth carrier and the second cell comprises one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers. In some embodiments, the first cellincludes a flexible bandwidth carrier and the second cell includes oneof the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the firstcell. In some configurations, the first cell includes one of the one ormore flexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell includes a normalbandwidth carrier. The first cell may include one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell may include one of theone or more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell insome configurations. The first cell may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 1 and the second cell may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 2 or 4 in some configurations.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of examples according to the disclosure in order that thedetailed description that follows may be better understood. Additionalfeatures and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conceptionand specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do notdepart from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Features whichare believed to be characteristic of the concepts disclosed herein, bothas to their organization and method of operation, together withassociated advantages will be better understood from the followingdescription when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only, and not as a definition of the limits of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In theappended figures, similar components or features may have the samereference label. Further, various components of the same type may bedistinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label. The samereference number, followed by different alphabetical descriptors acrossmultiple figures may indicate different (or identical) versions of thesame or similar element or component.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communications system inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2A shows an example of a wireless communications system where aflexible bandwidth waveform, also referred to as a scalable bandwidthwaveform, fits into a portion of spectrum not broad enough to fit anormal waveform in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 2B shows an example of a wireless communications system where aflexible bandwidth waveform fits into a portion of spectrum near an edgeof a band in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a wireless communications system inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4A shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4B shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4C shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4D shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4E shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4F shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4G shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4H shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4I shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4J shows a DRX timing diagram of two carriers having differentscaling factors in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5A shows a block diagram of a device configured for DRX signalingalignment in a multicarrier system that utilizes flexible bandwidthcarrier(s) in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5B shows a block diagram of another device configured for DRXsignaling alignment in a multicarrier system that utilizes flexiblebandwidth carrier(s) in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a communications system configured inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of a user equipment configured inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a wireless communications system thatincludes a base station and a user equipment in accordance with variousembodiments;

FIG. 9A shows a flow diagram of a method of signaling alignment in amulticarrier system that utilizes flexible bandwidth carrier(s) inaccordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 9B shows a flow diagram of a method of signaling alignment in amulticarrier system that utilizes flexible bandwidth carrier(s) inaccordance with various embodiments; and

FIG. 9C shows a flow diagram of another method of signaling alignment ina multicarrier system that utilizes flexible bandwidth carrier(s) inaccordance with various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Methods, systems, and devices are provided for discontinuous reception(DRX) for multicarrier systems that may utilize one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers. For example, tools and techniques are provided thatmay help ensure signaling alignment, such as with respect to DRXsignaling, in multicarrier systems that may utilize one or more normalbandwidth carriers and one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and/orsystems that may utilize multiple different flexible bandwidth carriers.

Flexible bandwidth carriers for wireless communications systems mayutilize portions of spectrum that may not be big enough to fit a normalwaveform utilizing flexible bandwidth waveforms. A flexible bandwidthsystem that utilizes a flexible bandwidth carrier may be generated withrespect to a normal bandwidth system through dilating, or scaling down,the time or the chip rate of the flexible bandwidth system with respectto the normal bandwidth system. Some embodiments may increase thebandwidth of a waveform through expanding, or scaling up, the time orthe chip rate of the flexible bandwidth system.

In multicarrier systems that may utilize one or more of these flexiblebandwidth carriers, misalignment of DRX cycles between multiple carriersmay cause an increase in power consumption. An increase in powerconsumption may be due to the fact that the DRX cycles are misalignedand do not have the same period (e.g., due to time dilation the‘wake-up’ period is longer for N=2 or 4 vs. N=1) and consequently thereceiver is listening for a longer time period per DRX cycle than wouldotherwise be the case. These problems may be addressed by aligning theDRX cycles for at least two carriers in a multicarrier system, forexample, by aligning at least one boundary, such as a starting boundaryand/or an ending boundary, of the DRX cycles or by aligning theperiodicity of the DRX cycles for a first and a second carrier.

Methods for DRX cycle alignment in a multicarrier system that mayutilize one or more flexible bandwidth may include identifying a DRXcycle for a first cell. A boundary, such as starting boundary and/or anending boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell may be adjusted suchthat the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with aboundary, such as a starting boundary and/or an ending boundary, for theDRX cycle for the first cell. Methods for DRX cycle alignment may beparticularly useful when at least the first cell or the second cellincludes at least one flexible bandwidth carrier.

In some cases, the DRX cycle for the second cell may have a sameperiodicity as the DRX cycle of the first cell. The DRX cycle for thesecond cell may have a periodicity related to a periodicity of the DRXcycle of the first cell based on an integer factor, such as a bandwidthscaling factor. A periodicity of the DRX cycle of the second cell may beless than a periodicity of the DRX cycle of the first cell, by aninteger factor. It may be useful to align the periodicity of the DRXcycles of the second cell with the first cell, by, for example,adjusting the length of the DRX cycle of the second cell to better alignthe starting boundaries and/or the ending boundaries of the first andsecond cells.

In some embodiments, adjusting the length of the DRX cycle for thesecond cell may also be used to either increase or decrease a number ofmonitored subframes with respect to the first cell. In some cases,transmitting to and/or receiving at a user equipment (UE) at least oneor more offsets or cycle lengths may further facilitate adjusting thestarting boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell. Someimplementations may include ignoring an initial assigned subframe for aDRX order for the second cell that overlaps an enabling or activationdelay for the first cell to better align the respective DRX cycles ofthe first and second cells.

Methods for DRX may be particularly useful in a multicarrier High SpeedDownlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network that utilizes a primary servingHigh Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH cell) with a normal chiprate, such as 3.84 Mcps (e.g., N=1) and a secondary serving HS-DSCHcell(s) that may utilize a time dilated chip rate=3.84/2 Mcps (e.g.,N=2) or 3.84/4 Mcps (e.g., N=4) or vice versa. The methods and systemsmay support downlink discontinuous reception (DL DRX) so that thesubframes that need to be monitored by a user equipment (UE) during DLDRX may be aligned between the primary serving HS-DSCH cell (which maybe N=1) and secondary serving HS-DSCH cell(s) (which may utilize aflexible bandwidth carrier, such as with N=2 or N=4) or vice versa.

In some implementations, the first cell may include a normal bandwidthcarrier and the second cell may include one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers. In other implementations, the first cell may includea flexible bandwidth carrier and the second cell may include one of theone or more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell.In some cases, the flexible bandwidth of the first cell may be greaterthan the flexible bandwidth of the second cell.

The methods of DRX as described herein can also be beneficiallyimplemented when the first cell includes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers and the second cell includes a normal bandwidth carrier. Insome cases, the first may cell include one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers and the second cell may include one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers different from the first cell. In some cases, the flexiblebandwidth of the first cell may be less than the flexible bandwidth ofthe second cell.

In yet other cases, the methods described herein can be implementedwhere the first cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1and the second cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or4. In some cases, the first cell may include a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 2 or 4 and the second cell may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 1.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunications systems such as CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA,Peer-to-Peer, and other systems. The terms “system” and “network” areoften used interchangeably. A CDMA system may implement a radiotechnology such as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA),etc. CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000Releases 0 and A are commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1X, 1X, etc.IS-856 (TIA-856) is commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, High RatePacket Data (HRPD), etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and othervariants of CDMA. A TDMA system may implement a radio technology such asGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM). An OFDMA or OFDM systemmay implement a radio technology such as Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB),Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal MobileTelecommunication System (UMTS). Some systems may utilize high speedpacket access (HSPA). 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced(LTE-A) are new releases of UMTS that use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS,LTE, LTE-A, and GSM are described in documents from an organizationnamed “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB aredescribed in documents from an organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project 2” (3GPP2). The techniques described herein may beused for the systems and radio technologies mentioned above, as well asother systems and radio technologies.

Thus, the following description provides examples, and is not limitingof the scope, applicability, or configuration set forth in the claims.Changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elementsdiscussed without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.Various embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may beperformed in an order different from that described, and various stepsmay be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described withrespect to certain embodiments may be combined in other embodiments.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrates an example of awireless communications system 100 in accordance with variousembodiments. The system 100 includes base stations 105, user equipment115, a base station controller 120, and a core network 130 (thecontroller 120 may be integrated into the core network 130 in someembodiments; in some embodiments, controller 120 may be integrated intobase stations 105). The system 100 may support operation on multiplecarriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). Multi-carriertransmitters can transmit modulated signals simultaneously on themultiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) signal, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal,Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) signal, Orthogonal FDMA(OFDMA) signal, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Eachmodulated signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carrycontrol information (e.g., pilot signals), overhead information, data,etc. The system 100 may be a multi-carrier LTE network capable ofefficiently allocating network resources.

The user equipment 115 may be any type of mobile station, userequipment, access terminal, subscriber unit, or user equipment. The userequipment 115 may include cellular phones and wireless communicationsdevices, but may also include personal digital assistants (PDAs),smartphones, other handheld devices, netbooks, notebook computers, etc.Thus, the term user equipment should be interpreted broadly hereinafter,including the claims, to include any type of wireless or mobilecommunications device.

Throughout this application, some user equipment may be referred to asflexible bandwidth capable user equipment, flexible bandwidth compatibleuser equipment, and/or flexible bandwidth user equipment. This maygenerally mean that the user equipment is flexible capable orcompatible. In general, these devices may also be capable of normalfunctionality with respect to one or more normal radio accesstechnologies (RATs). The use of the term flexible as meaning flexiblecapable or flexible compatible may generally be applicable to otheraspects of system 100, such as for controller 120 and/or base stations105, or a radio access network.

The base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with the user equipment115 via a base station antenna. The base stations 105 may be configuredto communicate with the user equipment 115 under the control of thecontroller 120 via multiple carriers. Each of the base station 105 sitescan provide communication coverage for a respective geographic area. Insome embodiments, base stations 105 may be referred to as a NodeB,eNodeB, Home NodeB, and/or Home eNodeB. The coverage area for each basestation 105 here is identified as 110-a, 110-b, or 110-c. The coveragearea for a base station may be divided into sectors (not shown, butmaking up only a portion of the coverage area). The system 100 mayinclude base stations 105 of different types (e.g., macro, micro, femto,and/or pico base stations).

The different aspects of system 100, such as the user equipment 115, thebase stations 105, the core network 130, and/or the controller 120 maybe configured to utilize flexible bandwidth and waveforms in accordancewith various embodiments. System 100, for example, shows transmissions125 between user equipment 115 and base stations 105. The transmissions125 may include uplink and/or reverse link transmission, from a userequipment 115 to a base station 105, and/or downlink and/or forward linktransmissions, from a base station 105 to a user equipment 115. Thetransmissions 125 may include flexible/scalable and/or normal waveforms.Normal waveforms may also be referred to as legacy and/or normalwaveforms.

The different aspects of system 100, such as the user equipment 115, thebase stations 105, the core network 130, and/or the controller 120 maybe configured to utilize flexible bandwidth and waveforms in accordancewith various embodiments. For example, different aspects of system 100may utilize portions of spectrum that may not be big enough to fit anormal waveform. Devices such as the user equipment 115, the basestations 105, the core network 130, and/or the controller 120 may beconfigured to adapt the chip rates, spreading factor, and/or scalingfactors to generate and/or utilize flexible bandwidth and/or waveforms.Some aspects of system 100 may form a flexible subsystem (such ascertain user equipment 115 and/or base stations 105) that may begenerated with respect to a normal subsystem (that may be implementedusing other user equipment 115 and/or base stations 105) throughdilating, or scaling down, the time of the flexible subsystem withrespect to the time of the normal subsystem.

In some embodiments, different aspects of system 100, such as the userequipment 115, the base stations 105, the core network 130, and/or thecontroller 120 may be configured to identify a DRX cycle for a firstcell. Different aspects of system 100, such as the user equipment 115,the base stations 105, the core network 130, and/or the controller 120may be configured to adjust at least one boundary, for example astarting boundary and/or an ending boundary for a DRX cycle for a secondcell so that the at least one boundary for the DRX cycle for the secondcell coincides with a boundary, such as a staring boundary and/or endingboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell. At least the first cellor the second cell may include at least one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers.

FIG. 2A shows an example of a wireless communications system 200-a witha base station 105-a and a user equipment 115-a in accordance withvarious embodiments, where a flexible bandwidth waveform 210-a fits intoa portion of spectrum not broad enough to fit a normal waveform 220-a.System 200-a may be an example of system 100 of FIG. 1. In someembodiments, the flexible bandwidth waveform 210-a may overlap with thenormal waveform 220-a that either the base 105-a and/or the userequipment 115-a may transmit. In some cases, the normal waveform 220-amay completely overlap the flexible bandwidth waveform 210-a. Someembodiments may also utilize multiple flexible bandwidth waveforms 210.In some embodiments, another base station and/or user equipment (notshown) may transmit the normal waveform 220-a and/or the flexiblebandwidth waveform 210-a.

FIG. 2B shows an example of a wireless communications system 200-b witha base station 105-b and user equipment 115-b, where a flexiblebandwidth waveform 210-b fits into a portion of spectrum near an edge ofa band, which may be a guard band, where normal waveform 220-b may notfit. System 200-b may be an example of system 100 of FIG. 1. Userequipment 115-a/115-b and/or base stations 105-a/105-b may be configuredto dynamically adjust the bandwidth of the flexible bandwidth waveforms210-a/210-b in accordance with various embodiments.

In some embodiments, different aspects of systems 200-a and/or 200-b,such as the user equipment 115-a and/or 115-b and/or the base stations105-a and/or 105-b b may be configured to identify a DRX cycle for afirst cell. Different aspects of systems 200-a and/or 200-b, such as theuser equipment 115-a and/or 1150-b and/or the base stations 105-a and/or105-b may be configured to adjust at least one boundary, for example astarting boundary and/or an ending boundary for a DRX cycle for a secondcell so that the at least one boundary for the DRX cycle for the secondcell coincides with a boundary, such as a staring boundary and/or endingboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell. At least the first cellor the second cell may include at least one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers.

In general, a first waveform or carrier bandwidth and a second waveformor carrier bandwidth may partially overlap when they overlap by at least1%, 2%, and/or 5%. In some embodiments, partial overlap may occur whenthe overlap is at least 10%. In some embodiments, the partial overlapmay be less than 99%, 98%, and/or 95%. In some embodiments, the overlapmay be less than 90%. In some cases, a flexible bandwidth waveform orcarrier bandwidth may be contained completely within another waveform orcarrier bandwidth. This overlap may still reflect partial overlap, asthe two waveforms or carrier bandwidths do not completely coincide. Ingeneral, partial overlap can mean that the two or more waveforms orcarrier bandwidths do not completely coincide (i.e., the carrierbandwidths are not the same).

Some embodiments may utilize different definitions of overlap based onpower spectrum density (PSD). For example, one definition of overlapbased on PSD is shown in the following overlap equation for a firstcarrier:

${overlap} = {100\%*{\frac{\int_{0}^{\infty}{{{PSD}_{1}(f)}*{{PSD}_{2}(f)}}}{\int_{0}^{\infty}{{{PSD}_{1}(f)}*{{PSD}_{1}(f)}}}.}}$

In this equation, PSD₁ (f) is the PSD for a first waveform or carrierbandwidth and PSD₂(f) is the PSD for a second waveform or carrierbandwidth. When the two waveforms or carrier bandwidths coincide, thenthe overlap equation may equal 100%. When the first waveform or carrierbandwidth and the second waveform or carrier bandwidth at leastpartially overlap, then the overlap equation may not equal 100%. Forexample, the Overlap Equation may result in a partial overlap of greaterthan or equal to 1%, 2%, 5%, and/or 10% in some embodiments. The overlapequation may result in a partial overlap of less than or equal to 99%,98%, 95%, and/or 90% in some embodiments. One may note that in the casein which the first waveform or carrier bandwidth is a normal waveform orcarrier bandwidth and the second waveform or a carrier waveform is aflexible bandwidth waveform or carrier bandwidth that is containedwithin the normal bandwidth or carrier bandwidth, then the overlapequation may represent the ratio of the flexible bandwidth compared tothe normal bandwidth, written as a percentage. Furthermore, the overlapequation may depend on which carrier bandwidth's perspective the overlapequation is formulated with respect to. Some embodiments may utilizeother definitions of overlap. In some cases, another overlap may bedefined utilizing a square root operation such as the following:

${overlap} = {100\%*{\sqrt{\frac{\int_{0}^{\infty}{{{PSD}_{1}(f)}*{{PSD}_{2}(f)}}}{\int_{0}^{\infty}{{{PSD}_{1}(f)}*{{PSD}_{1}(f)}}}}.}}$

Other embodiments may utilize other overlap equations that may accountfor multiple overlapping carriers.

FIG. 3 shows a wireless communications system 300 with a base station105-c and user equipment 115-c in accordance with various embodiments.Different aspects of system 300, such as the user equipment 115-c and/orthe base stations 105-c, may be configured for DRX in system 300 thatmay utilize multiple carriers including one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers.

Transmissions 305-a and/or 305-b between the user equipment 115-c andthe base station 105-a may utilize normal and/or flexible bandwidthwaveforms that may be generated to occupy less (or more) bandwidth thana normal waveform. For example, at a band edge, there may not be enoughavailable spectrum to place a normal waveform. For a flexible bandwidthwaveform, as time gets dilated, the frequency occupied by a waveformgoes down, thus making it possible to fit a flexible bandwidth waveforminto spectrum that may not be broad enough to fit a normal waveform. Insome embodiments, the flexible bandwidth waveform may be scaledutilizing a scaling factor N with respect to a normal waveform. Scalingfactor N may take on numerous different values including, but notlimited to, integer values such as 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, etc. N, however, doesnot have to be an integer. In some cases, transmissions 305-a may bewith respect to a primary serving cell and transmission 305-b may bewith respect to a secondary serving cell.

Different aspects of system 300, such as the user equipment 115-c and/orthe base stations 105-c, may be configured for identifying a DRX cyclefor a first cell, which may be a primary serving cell. The userequipment 115-c and/or the base stations 105-c may adjust a boundary,such a starting and/or ending boundary for a DRX cycle for a secondcell, which may be a secondary serving cell, such that the boundary forthe DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with a boundary, such as astarting and/or ending boundary, for the DRX cycle for the first cell.At least the first cell or the second cell may include at least one ofthe one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. In some embodiments, aperiod of the DRX cycle for the second cell may be different from aperiod of the DRX cycle for the first cell.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 115-c and/or the base stations105-c, may be configured for identifying a periodicity of the DRX cyclefor the first cell. A periodicity of the DRX cycle for the second cellmay be adjusted, by for example the user equipment 115-c and/or the basestations 105-c, at least to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scalingfactor with respect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the firstcell.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 115-c and/or the base stations105-c may be configured for adjusting a length of the DRX cycle for thesecond cell to either increase or decrease a number of monitoredsubframes with respect to the first cell. Some embodiments may furtherinclude transmitting to and/or receiving at the user equipment 115-c atleast one or more offsets or cycle lengths to facilitate adjusting aboundary, which may include a starting and or ending boundary, for theDRX cycle for the second cell. In some embodiments, the user equipment115-c and/or the base stations 105-c may ignore an initial assignedsubframe for a DRX order for the second cell that overlaps an enablingor activation delay for the first cell to further enable DRX cyclealignment between multiple carriers,

In some embodiments, transmission 305-a may include one of the one ormore flexible bandwidth carriers and transmission 305-b may include anormal bandwidth carrier. In some embodiments, transmission 305-a mayinclude one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers andtransmission 305-b may include one of the one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers different from the first cell.

In some embodiments, transmission 305-a may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 1 and transmission 305-b may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 2 or 4. In other embodiments, transmission 305-a mayinclude a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4 and the transmission305-b may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1. In someembodiments, transmission 305-a may include a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 2 or 4 and transmission 305-b may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 2 or 4.

System 300 may be an example of a multicarrier High Speed DownlinkPacket Access (HSDPA) network that may utilize a primary serving HighSpeed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH cell) with a normal chip rate,such as 3.84 Mcps (e.g., N=1) and a secondary serving HS-DSCH cell(s)that may utilize a time dilated chip rate=3.84/2 Mcps (e.g., N=2) or3.84/4 Mcps (e.g., N=4) or vice versa. Tools and techniques provided maysupport downlink discontinuous reception (DL DRX) so that the subframesthat may need to be monitored by a user equipment (UE) during DL DRX maybe aligned between the primary serving HS-DSCH cell (which may be N=1)and secondary serving HS-DSCH cell(s) (which may utilize a flexiblebandwidth carrier, such as with N=2 or N=4) or vice versa.

Some embodiments may utilize additional terminology. A new unit D may beutilized. The unit D is dilated. The unit is unitless and has the valueof N. One can talk about time in the flexible system in terms of“dilated time”. For example, a slot of say 10 ms in normal time may berepresented as 10 Dms in flexible time (note: even in normal time, thiswill hold true since N=1 in normal time: D has a value of 1, so 10Dms=10 ms). In time scaling, one can replace most “seconds” with“dilated-seconds”. Note frequency in Hertz is 1/s.

As discussed above, a flexible bandwidth or scalable bandwidth waveformmay be a waveform that occupies less bandwidth than a normal waveform.Thus, in a flexible bandwidth system, the same number of symbols andbits may be transmitted over a longer duration compared to normalbandwidth system. This may result in time stretching, whereby slotduration, frame duration, etc., may increase by a scaling factor N.Scaling factor N may represent the ratio of the normal bandwidth toflexible bandwidth (BW). Thus, data rate in a flexible bandwidth systemmay equal (Normal Rate×1/N), and delay may equal (Normal Delay×N). Ingeneral, a flexible systems channel BW=channel BW of normal systems/N.Delay×BW may remain unchanged. Furthermore, in some embodiments, aflexible bandwidth waveform may be a waveform that occupies morebandwidth than a normal waveform. Scaling factor N may also be referredto as a bandwidth scaling factor.

Throughout this specification, the term normal system, subsystem, and/orwaveform may be utilized to refer to systems, subsystems, and/orwaveforms that involve embodiments that may utilize a scaling factorthat may be equal to one (e.g., N=1) or a normal or standard chip rate.These normal systems, subsystems, and/or waveforms may also be referredto as standard and/or legacy systems, subsystems, and/or waveforms.Furthermore, flexible systems, subsystems, and/or waveforms may beutilized to refer to systems, subsystems, and/or waveforms that involveembodiments that may utilize a scaling factor that may be not equal toone (e.g., N=2, 4, 8, ½, ¼, etc.). For N>1, or if a chip rate isdecreased, the bandwidth of a waveform may decrease. Some embodimentsmay utilize scaling factors or chip rates that increase the bandwidth.For example, if N<1, or if the chip rate is increased, then a waveformmay be expanded to cover bandwidth larger than a normal waveform. Someembodiments may utilize a chip rate divisor (Dcr) to change the chiprate in some embodiments. Flexible systems, subsystems, and/or waveformsmay also be referred to as scalable systems, subsystems, and/orwaveforms in some cases. Flexible systems, subsystems, and/or waveformsmay also be referred to as fractional systems, subsystems, and/orwaveforms in some cases. Fractional systems, subsystems, and/orwaveforms may or may not change bandwidth, for example. A fractionalsystem, subsystem, or waveform may be flexible because it may offer morepossibilities than a normal or standard system, subsystem, or waveform(e.g., N=1 system). Furthermore, the use of the term flexible may alsobe utilized to mean flexible bandwidth capable.

Turning next to FIGS. 4A-4J, DRX timing diagrams illustrate multipleconfiguration 400, including configurations 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d,400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i, and 400-j that each include DRXfunctionality in a multicarrier system that utilizes one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers in accordance with various embodiments. TheDRX timing diagrams may be examples of DRX methods, such as DRXsignaling alignment, implemented by various wireless entities, includingall or part of: the base stations 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, andFIG. 3; the user equipment 115 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3;and/or the controller 120/core network 130 of FIG. 1. The common aspectsbetween FIGS. 4A-4J will be described generally, and the particulars ofeach FIG. will then be described separately.

In some embodiments, configurations 400 may be implemented in a wirelesscommunication system utilizing High-Speed Downlink Packet Access(HSDPA). A primary serving cell 405, such as a High-Speed DownlinkShared Channel (HS-DSCH), may have a scaling factor of N=1. A secondaryserving cell 410, which may also be a HS-DSCH cell, may have a scalingfactor of N=2 or N=4. Conversely, in some embodiments, the primaryserving cell 405 may have a scaling factor of N=2 or N=4, and thesecondary serving cell 410 may have a scaling factor of N=1.

In some embodiments, the primary serving cell 405 may include multiplechannels, such as a High Speed-Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) 406and/or a High Speed-Physical Downlink Shared Channel (HS-PDSCH) 407.After an activation or enabling delay 415, which may be of a length of 1frame and which may be enabled via RRC signaling, a UE 115, for examplein a next frame, may continuously listen for communications across theHS-SCCH 406 and/or the HS-PDSCH 407, such as for paging informationincluding one or more resource grants, during one or more DRX cycles,such as UE DRX cycle 420. Each UE DRX cycle 420 may be 4 subframes inlength, or any other suitable length. In some cases, each UE DRX cycle420 may be 8 subframes in length. The UE 115 may receive a HS-SCCH DRXburst 425, and upon the completion of reception of the HS-SCCH DRX burst425, an inactivity threshold 430 for a UE DRX cycle 420 may begin. Insome embodiments, the inactivity threshold 430 may be 8 subframes inlength. In other embodiments, an inactivity threshold for a UE DRX cycle420 may be 4 subframes in length. After completion of the HS-SCCH DRXburst 425 and during the inactivity threshold 430, the UE 115 may alsoreceive one or more HS-SCCH bursts 435, 437. In some cases, uponcompletion of transmission/reception of each of the one or more HS-SCCHbursts 435, 437, an inactivity threshold 431, 432, 433 each of a similarlength, may be re-started. As a result, the UE 115 may continuouslymonitor the HS-SCCH 406 for varied lengths of time 440, 441, dependingon what bursts are received over the HS-SCCH 406. Upon the passage of anentire inactivity threshold 432 without any reception of signalingacross the HS-SCCH 406, a length of continuous HS-SCCH monitoring 440may end and the UE 115 may stop continuously monitoring the HS-SCCH 406.

In some embodiments, the UE 115 may monitor one or more requiredinactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445, for example, lasting one subframe eachwhen the UE 115 is not continuously monitoring the HS-SCCH 406, such asduring a DRX cycle 420 after the expiration of an inactivity threshold432. In some embodiments, the UE 115 may monitor a required inactiveHS-SCCH DRX burst 445 once per every UE DRX cycle 420. The UE 115 maycontinue to monitor required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445 once perevery UE DRX cycle 420 until it receives another HS-SCCH DRX burst 427or another HS-SCCH burst. Upon complete receipt of another burst, the UEmay again activate an inactivity threshold timer 433. In someembodiments, upon the expiration of inactivity threshold timer 433, aperiod 441 of continuously monitoring the HS-SCCH 406 may end and the UEmay again go back to discontinuously monitoring subframes fortransmissions across the HS-SCCH 406.

In some embodiments, the HS-PDSCH 407 may carry one or more HS-PDSCHbursts 450, which may be slightly delayed, for example by 2 slots, whichmay be equivalent to 1.33 ms, behind a corresponding burst, such asburst 425, 427, 435, and/or 436, etc. on the HS-SCCH 406.

In some embodiments, the secondary serving cell 410 may include multiplechannels, such as a High Speed-Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) 411and/or a High Speed-Physical Downlink Shared Channel (HS-PDSCH) 412. TheUE 115, for example in a second frame CFN 61, may continuously listenfor communications across the HS-SCCH 411 and/or the HS-PDSCH 412, suchas for paging information including one or more resource grants, duringone or more DRX cycles 421. Each DRX cycle 421 may be 4, or 8, forexample, subframes in length, or any other suitable length. The UE 115may receive a HS-SCCH DRX burst 426, 428, 436, 43, 446 during a DRXcycle 421. In some embodiments, the DRX cycles 421 may be scaled down orup by an integer factor, such as by a bandwidth scaling factor, to alignthe periodicity of the secondary serving cell 410 with a periodicity ofthe primary serving cell 405.

In some embodiments, after completion of the HS-SCCH DRX burst 426, theUE 115 may also receive one or more HS-SCCH bursts 436, 438. In somecases, the UE 115 may continuously monitor the HS-SCCH 411 for variedlengths of time 440, 441, depending on what bursts are received over theHS-SCCH 411. The passage of an inactivity threshold 430, 431, 432, 433on the HS-SCCH 406 of the primary serving cell 405 without reception ofa burst may trigger discontinuous monitoring of the HS-SCCH 411 forfurther bursts.

In some embodiments, the UE 115 may monitor one or more requiredinactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446, for example, lasting one subframe eachwhen the UE 115 is not continuously monitoring the HS-SCCH 411, such asduring a DRX cycle 421 after the expiration of an inactivity threshold430, 431, 432, 433 on the HS-SCCH 406. In some embodiments, the UE 115may monitor a required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 446 for 1 subframe perevery DRX cycle 421. The UE 115 may continue to monitor a requiredinactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 446 for 1 subframe per every DRX cycle 421until it receives another HS-SCCH DRX burst 428 or another HS-SCCHburst.

In some embodiments, the HS-PDSCH 412 may carry one or more HS-PDSCHbursts 451, which may be slightly delayed, for example 2 dilated slots,which may be equivalent to 2.67 ms, behind a corresponding burst, suchas burst 426, 428, 436, and/or 438, etc. on the HS-SCCH 411.

In the following embodiments, it may be assumed that the UE DRX cycle420 may be an integer multiple or divisor of a UE discontinuestransmission (DTX) cycle, however the claimed subject matter is not solimited. The following methods, systems, and devices may be implementedfor other configurations of UE DTX cycles. Furthermore, in some cases itmay be assumed that a UE DTX DRX offset shall fulfill the followingrelationship:

UE DTX DRX Offset mod 5=0 for E-DCH TTI=10 ms  (1)

for ease of implementation with current standards and practices, forexample. However the claimed subject matter is not to be so limited.

In the embodiments to be detailed further below, when multiple carriersare implemented having different bandwidth scaling factors, DRXmisalignment may occur. Methods are herein provided for DRX, includingmethods to mitigate this DRX misalignment problem to align one or morerequired inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445 on a first carrier, such asprimary serving cell 405 to those required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts446 on a second carrier, such as secondary serving cell 410.

In particular, FIG. 4A shows a configuration 400-a, where for theprimary serving cell 405, N=1, and for the secondary serving cell 410,N=2. A standard DRX pattern, i.e., N=1, can be described by:

((5*CFN _(—) DRX−UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset+S _(—) DRX)MOD UE_(—)DRX_cycle)=0  (2)

where

S _(—) DRX=HS-SCCH/HS-PDSCH subframe number if τ_(DPCH)=0  (3)

In some cases, such as when the primary serving cell 405 has a bandwidthscaling factor of N=1 and the secondary serving cell 410 has a bandwidthscaling factor of N=2 (or 4 as will be described below in reference toFIG. 4B), the flexible DRX pattern, e.g., N=1, 2, or 4, can be describedby:

((5*CFN _(—) DRX _(N)−UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N) +S _(—) DRX_(N))MOD UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N))=0  (4)

-   -   where N=1, 2, or 4; and

CFN _(—) DRX _(N=2 or 4)=Floor((CFN _(—) DRX _(N=1))/N)  (5)

UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N=2 or 4)=Floor((UE_(—) DTX _(—)DRX_Offset_(N=1))/N)  (6)

UE DRX cycle_(N=2 or 4)=Floor(UE DRX cycle_(N=1))/N  (6a)

where Floor(x) is the largest integer not greater than x (e.g.,Floor(3.5)=3).

In some embodiments, according to equations (6) and (6a), for thesecondary serving cell 410, the DRX cycle 421, which as shown is dividedby 2, over the HS-SCCH 411 is equal to the UE DRX cycle 420 for theprimary serving cell 405. By dividing the DRX cycle 421 across theHS-SCCH 411 of the secondary serving cell 410 by 2 and then invoking thefloor function represented by equations (6) and (6a), DRX cyclealignment may be realized. For example, dividing the DRX cycle 421 by 2and then invoking the floor function, the periodicity of the secondaryserving cell 410 may be aligned with the periodicity of the primaryserving cell 405 such that each of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 445 across the HS-SCCH 406 of the primary serving cell 405 maybegin at the same time as/align with the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 446 across the HS-SCCH 411 of the secondary serving cell 410. Insome embodiments, an ending time of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 445 and the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446 may bealigned in a similar manner (not shown). This may be further berepresented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=2)=Floor((UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1))/2)  (7)

UE DRX cycle_(N=2)=(UE DRX cycle_(N=1))/2 where UE DRXcycle_(N=1)≠5  (8)

-   where the floor function represented by equation (7) may only be    required for UE DRX cycle if UE DRX cycle_(N=1)=5.

By configuring the second serving cell 405 in such a way, an “off time”for DRX reception, e.g. a time between continuous monitoring of theHS-SCCH 411 for varied lengths of time 440 and 441, may be aligned withthe primary serving cell 405 HS-SCCH 406. In some embodiments, the UEDRX cycle 420 may not equal 5, as this may result in periodicmisalignment between the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445 andthe required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446 in primary and secondaryserving HS-DSCH cells 405, 410.

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=2) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=2), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420, may betransmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRC signaling, which may notbe activated until the end of an enabling delay period 415. These valuesmay represent an offset value and a cycle length for DRX alignment. Insome cases, these values may be appropriately scaled for other cellshaving different bandwidth scaling factors, such as secondary servingcell 410, which has a bandwidth scaling factor N=2. These values mayalso be appropriately scaled for other cells having different bandwidthscaling factors, such as secondary serving cell 410-a of FIG. 4B, asdescribed below, with N=4.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421 for thesecondary serving cell 410 may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405.

In some embodiments, dividing the floor DRX cycle 421 of the HS-SCCH411-a on the secondary serving cell 410 by the bandwidth scaling factorof the secondary serving cell relative to the primary serving cell 405and then invoking the relevant floor function, may further align otherbursts across HS-SCCH 406 and HS-SCCH 411, such as HS-SCCH DRX burst 425and HS-SCCH DRX burst 426, HS-SCCH DRX burst 427 and HS-SCCH DRX burst428, and/or HS-SCCH bursts 435 and 437 with HS-SCCH burts 436 and 438.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406 is transmitted via the primary servingcell 405 to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406 and the HS-SCCH 411 areboth transmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial to start theinactivity timer 430, 431, 432, and/or 433 in the HS-SCCH 406 subframeafter an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425, 427 and/or an HS-SCCH burst 435, 437 isreceived by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 406. In other cases, if only theHS-SCCH 411 is transmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial tostart an inactivity timer, such as 430, 431, 432, and/or 433 in theHS-SCCH 406 subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 426, 428 and/or anHS-SCCH burst 436, 438 is received by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 411.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420 and the DRX cycle 421 could be implemented, e.g. one onthe HS-SCCH 406 for the primary serving cell 405 and one on the HS-SCCH411 on the secondary serving cell 410.

Turning next to FIG. 4B, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-b, where for the primary serving cell 405-a, N=1, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-a, N=4. In some cases, a UE DRX cycle 420-amay be 8 subframes in length. For the secondary serving cell 410-a, theDRX cycle 421-a over the HS-SCCH 411-a is the same subframe length as UEDRX cycle 420-c (8 subframes), but because secondary serving cell 410-ais dilated with respect to cell 405-a by a bandwidth scaling factor of4, the DRX cycle 421-a is four times as long in time relative to the UEDRX cycle 420-a of the primary serving cell 405-a. By dividing the DRXcycle 421-a across the HS-SCCH 411 of the secondary serving cell 410-aby 4 and then invoking the relevant floor function, DRX cycle alignmentmay be realized. For example, dividing the DRX cycle 421-a by 4 and theninvoking the relevant floor function, the periodicity of the secondaryserving cell 410-a may be aligned with the periodicity of the primaryserving cell 405-a such that each of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 445-a across the HS-SCCH 406-a of the primary serving cell 405-amay begin and/or end at the same time as/align with the requiredinactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-a across the HS-SCCH 411-a of thesecondary serving cell 410-a. This may be represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=4)=Floor((UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1))/4)  (9)

UE DRX cycle_(N=4)=(UE DRX cycle_(N=1))/4 where UE DRX cycle_(N=1)>5 and≠10  (10)

-   -   where UE DRX cycle_(N=1) could also be ÷2 instead of ÷4,    -   and where the floor function represented by equation (9) may        only be required for UE DRX cycle if UE DRX cycle_(N=1)=5 or 10.

By configuring the second serving cell 405-a in such a way, an “offtime” for DRX reception, e.g. a time between continuous monitoring ofthe HS-SCCH 411-a for varied lengths of time 440-a and 441-a, may bealigned with the primary serving cell 405-a HS-SCCH 406-a. In someembodiments, the UE DRX cycle 420-a may be greater than (not equal to) 5and not equal to 10, as either of these cases may result in periodicmisalignment between the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-a andthe required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-a in primary and secondaryserving HS-DSCH cells 405-a, 410-a based on the assumption representedin equations (1) and/or (4). In some cases, the UE DRX cycle 420-a mayalso not be equal to 4, as this may result in no DRX for the secondaryserving cell 410-a when that cell has a bandwidth scaling factor of 4.

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=4) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=4), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420-a, may betransmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRC signaling, which in somecases is not activated until the end of an enabling delay period 415-a.These values may represent an offset value and a cycle length for DRXalignment. In some cases, these values may be appropriately scaled forother cells having different bandwidth scaling factors, such assecondary serving cell 410-a, which has a bandwidth scaling factor N=4.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-a for thesecondary serving cell 410-a may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-a.

In some embodiments, dividing the DRX cycle 421-a of the HS-SCCH 411-aon the secondary serving cell 410-a by the bandwidth scaling factor ofthe secondary serving cell 410-a relative to the primary serving cell405-a and then invoking the relevant floor function, may further alignother bursts across HS-SCCH 406-a and HS-SCCH 411-a, such as HS-SCCH DRXburst 425-a and HS-SCCH DRX burst 426-a, HS-SCCH DRX burst 427-a andHS-SCCH DRX burst 428-a, and/or HS-SCCH burst 435 and 437 with HS-SCCHbursts 436 and 438 (not shown).

In some embodiments, the DRX cycle 421-a could also be divided by 2,such as after invoking the relevant floor function, to align twice asmany required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-a across the HS-SCCH 406-aof the primary serving cell 405-a with the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 446-a across the HS-SCCH 411-a of the secondary serving cell410-a, than the normally dilated (by a factor of 4) secondary servingcell 405-a. This may further allow DRX alignment when the UE DRX cycle420-a is not equal to 4 (same as the N=2 case above described inreference to FIG. 4A).

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-a is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-a to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-a and theHS-SCCH 411-a are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-a and/or 433-a in theHS-SCCH 406-a subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-a, 427-a isreceived by the UE via the HS-SCCH 406-a. In other cases, if only theHS-SCCH 411-a is transmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial tostart an inactivity timer, such as 430-a and/or 433-a in the HS-SCCH406-a subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 426-a, 428-a is received bythe UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 411.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420-a and the DRX cycle 421-a could be implemented, e.g. oneon the HS-SCCH 406-a for the primary serving cell 405-a and one on theHS-SCCH 411-a on the secondary serving cell 410-a.

Turning next to FIG. 4C, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-c, where for the primary serving cell 405-b, N=1, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-b, N=2. For the secondary serving cell 410-b,the DRX cycle 421-b over the HS-SCCH 411-b is the same length insubframes (4) as UE DRX cycle 420-b, but because secondary serving cell410-b is dilated with respect to cell 405-b by a bandwidth scalingfactor of 2, the DRX cycle 421-b, although the same subframe length asthe UE DRX cycle 420-b (4 subframes), is twice as long in time relativeto the UE DRX cycle 420-b of the primary serving cell 405-b.

In some embodiments, to align the respective DRX cycles of the primaryand secondary serving cells 405-b and 410-b, and more specifically therequired inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-b across the HS-SCCH 406-b withthe required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-b across the HS-SCCH 411-b,it may be useful to align a boundary of these bursts 445-b and 446-b. Insome embodiments, this may include aligning a starting boundary and/oran ending boundary (not shown) of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 445-b with a boundary of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts446-b. In some cases, this result may be obtained by transmittingto/receiving by the UE 115 an offset value and/or a cycle length via RRCsignaling, for example, with the alignment being activated after anenabling delay 415-b. In some cases, because the HS-SCCH 411-b of thesecondary serving cell 410-b is scaled by a factor of 2 with respect tothe HS-SCCH 406-b of the primary serving cell 405-b, each requiredinactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 446-b may align with every other requiredinactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-b. In other words, this may result in analigned DRX pattern for the respective cells, but with a longer “offtime” for the secondary serving cell 410-b. Also, because the secondaryserving cell 410-b is scaled by a factor of 2 with respect to theprimary serving cell 405-b, each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst446-b may be twice as long as each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst445-b. This configuration may be further represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=2)=Floor((UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1))/2)  (11)

UE DRX cycle_(N=2) =“N=2” dilated UE DRX cycle_(N=1)  (12)

In some embodiments, the DRX pattern may be determined by:

((5*CFN _(—) DRX _(N)−UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N) +S _(—) DRX_(N))MOD UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N))=0  (13)

Equation (13) may be particularly useful when DRX is applied after beingactivated either by RRC signaling, such as after an enabling delay 415-bor by an HS-SCCH order, such as after a delay of 12 slots starting fromthe end of the HS-SCCH order subframe, when the primary and secondaryserving cell 405-b, 410-b subframes are already aligned. i.e., when theDRX cycles 420-b, 421-b begin at the same time/in the same subframe.However, in other embodiments, when the subframes across the primary andsecondary serving cells 405-b and 410-b are not aligned, i.e., when theDRX cycles 420-b, 421-b do not begin at the same time/in the samesubframe, or when it is desired to align the initial subframes acrossthese cells, the DRX pattern may be determined by:

((5*CFN _(—) DRX _(N)−UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N) +S _(—) DRX_(N)−Floor(UE_(—) DRX cycle_(N) /N))MOD UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N))=0  (14)

The Floor(UE_DRX_cycle_(N)/N) term in equation (14) corresponds to theDRX cycle 421-b divided by the bandwidth scaling factor of the secondaryserving cell 410-b, such as by 2, after which the relevant floorfunction may be invoked, as shown.

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=2) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=2), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420-b, may betransmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRC signaling, and in somecases, not activated until the end of an enabling delay period 415-b.These values may represent an offset value and a cycle length. In somecases, these values may be appropriately scaled for other cells havingdifferent bandwidth scaling factors, such as secondary serving cell410-b, which has a bandwidth scaling factor N=2.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-b for thesecondary serving cell 410-b may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-b.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-b is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-b to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-b and theHS-SCCH 411-b are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-b, 431-a, 432-a, and/or433-b in the HS-SCCH 406-b subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-b,427-b and/or an HS-SCCH burst 435-a, 437-a is received by the UE 115 viathe HS-SCCH 406-b. In other cases, if only the HS-SCCH 411-b istransmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial to start aninactivity timer, such as 430-b, 431-a, 432-a, and/or 433-b in theHS-SCCH 406-b subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 426-b, 428-b and/or anHS-SCCH burst 436-a, 438-a is received by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH411-b.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420-b and the DRX cycle 421-b could be implemented, e.g. oneon the HS-SCCH 406-b for the primary serving cell 405-b and one on theHS-SCCH 411-b on the secondary serving cell 410-b.

Turning next to FIG. 4D, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-d, where for the primary serving cell 405-c, N=1, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-c, N=4. For the secondary serving cell 410-c,the DRX cycle 421-c over the HS-SCCH 411-c is the same subframe lengthas UE DRX cycle 420-c (4 subframes), but because secondary serving cell410-c is dilated with respect to cell 405-c by a bandwidth scalingfactor of 4, the DRX cycle 421-c, is four times as long in time relativeto the UE DRX cycle 420-c of the primary serving cell 405-b.

In some embodiments, to align the respective DRX cycles of the primaryand secondary serving cells 405-c and 410-c, and more specifically therequired inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-c across the HS-SCCH 406-c withthe required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-c across the HS-SCCH 411-c,it may be useful to align a boundary of these bursts 445-c and 446-c. Insome embodiments, this may include aligning a starting boundary or anending boundary (not shown) of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts445-c with the starting boundary of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 446-c. In some cases, because the HS-SCCH 411-c of the secondaryserving cell 410-c is scaled by a factor of 4 with respect to theHS-SCCH 406-c of the primary serving cell 405-c, each HS-SCCH DRX burst446-c may align with every sixth HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-c. In otherwords, this may result in an aligned DRX pattern for the respectivecells, but with a longer “off time” for the secondary serving cell410-c. Also, because the secondary serving cell 410-c is scaled by afactor of 4 with respect to the primary serving cell 405-c, each HS-SCCHDRX burst 446-c may be four times as long as each HS-SCCH DRX burst445-c. This configuration may further represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=4)=Floor((UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=i))/4)  (15)

UE DRX cycle_(N=4) =“N=4” dilated UE DRX cycle_(N=1)  (16)

In some embodiments, the DRX pattern may be determined by equation (13)above when DRX is applied after being activated either by RRC signaling,such as after an enabling delay 415-c or by an HS-SCCH order, such asafter a delay of 12 slots starting from the end of the HS-SCCH ordersubframe, when the primary and secondary serving cell 405-c, 410-csubframes are already aligned, i.e., when the DRX cycles 420-c, 421-cbegin at the same time/in the same subframe. However, in otherembodiments, when the subframes across the primary and secondary servingcells 405-c and 410-c are not aligned, i.e., when the DRX cycles 420-c,421-c do not begin at the same time/in the same subframe, or when it isdesired to align the initial subframes across these cells, the DRXpattern may be determined by equation (14) above. TheFloor(UE_DRX_cycle_(N)/N) term in equation (14) corresponds to the DRXcycle 421-c divided by the bandwidth scaling factor of the secondaryserving cell 410-c, such as by 4, after which the relevant floorfunction may be invoked as shown. In some cases, this result may beobtained by signaling to/receiving by the UE 115 an offset value and/ora cycle length as indicated above, via RRC signaling, which may not beactivated until the end of the enabling delay 415-c.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-c for thesecondary serving cell 410-c may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-c.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-c is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-c to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-c and theHS-SCCH 411-c are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-c, 431-b, 432-b, and/or433-c in the HS-SCCH 406-c subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-c,427-c and/or an HS-SCCH burst 435-b, 437-b is received by the UE 115 viathe HS-SCCH 406-c. In other cases, if only the HS-SCCH 411-c istransmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial to start aninactivity timer, such as 430-c, 431-b, 432-b, and/or 433-c in theHS-SCCH 406-c subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 426-c and/or anHS-SCCH burst 436-b is received by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 411-c.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420-c and the DRX cycle 421-c could be implemented, e.g. oneon the HS-SCCH 406-c for the primary serving cell 405-c and one on theHS-SCCH 411-c on the secondary serving cell 410-c.

Turning next to FIG. 4E, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-e, where for the primary serving cell 405-d, N=1, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-d, N=2. For the primary serving cell 405-d,the DRX may be applied after an enabling delay 415-d equal to 5subframes in length. An HS-SCCH burst 435-b may occur immediatelyfollowing the enabling delay 415-b, and may last for 1 subframe. Acorresponding HS-SCCH burst 436-c may occur on the HS-SCCH 411-d of thesecondary serving cell 410-d overlapping the occurrence of the HS-SCCHburst 435-c on the primary serving cell 405-d. Because the secondaryserving cell 410-d is dilated by a factor of 2 with respect to theprimary serving cell 405-d, the HS-SCCH burst 436-c is twice as long asthe HS-SCCH burst 435-c. In some embodiments, the HS-SCCH burst 436-cand HS-SCCH burst 435-c may end at the same time, but the HS-SCCH burst436-c may start before the HS-SCCH burst 435-c. However, because theHS-SCCH burst 435-c immediately follows the enabling delay 415-d, theHS-SCCH burst 436-c may overlap the enabling delay 415-d. In someembodiments, this may cause misalignment of reception of the HS-SCCHbursts 435-c and 436-c. Therefore it may be advantageous to ignore thesecondary serving cell 410-d HS-SCCH 411-d's initial assigned subframe,such as burst 436-c, to avoid requiring retransmission across both cellsto align the DRX cycles of the respective cells. In some cases, suchinstructions may be transmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRCsignaling and activated after the enabling delay 415-d.

Turning next to FIG. 4F, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-f, where for the primary serving cell 405-e, N=1, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-e, N=4. For the primary serving cell 405-e,the DRX may be applied after an enabling delay 415-e equal to 5subframes in length. An HS-SCCH burst 435-d may occur immediatelyfollowing the enabling delay 415-e, and may last for 1 subframe. Acorresponding HS-SCCH burst 436-d may occur on the HS-SCCH 411-e of thesecondary serving cell 410-e overlapping the occurrence of the HS-SCCHburst 435-c on the primary serving cell 405-d. Because the secondaryserving cell 410-e is dilated by a factor of 4 with respect to theprimary serving cell 405-e, the HS-SCCH burst 436-d is four times aslong as the HS-SCCH burst 435-d. In some embodiments, the HS-SCCH burst436-d may start before the HS-SCCH burst 435-d and end after the HS-SCCHburst 435-d. However, because the HS-SCCH burst 435-d immediatelyfollows the enabling delay 415-e, the HS-SCCH burst 436-d may overlapthe enabling delay 415-e. In some embodiments, this may causemisalignment of reception of the HS-SCCH bursts 435-d and 436-d.Therefore it may be advantageous to ignore the secondary serving cell410-e HS-SCCH 411-e's initial assigned subframe, such as burst 436-d, toavoid requiring retransmission across both cells to align the DRX cyclesof the respective cells. In some cases, such instructions may betransmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRC signaling and activatedafter the enabling delay 415-e.

Turning next to FIG. 4G, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-f, where for the primary serving cell 405-f, N=2, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-f, N=1. The configuration in FIG. 4G may beimplemented in an MC-HSDPA system. In some cases, a Downlink DRX patternon at least two cells in an MC-HSDPA system, including a primary cellwith a bandwidth scaling factor of N=2 or N=4 and a secondary servingcell with a bandwidth scaling factor N=1, may be represented by:

((5*CFN _(—) DRX _(N)−UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N) +S _(—) DRX_(N))MOD UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N))=0 where N=1,2, or 4  (17)

For N=2:

CFN _(—) DRX _(N=1) ={N*CFN _(—) DRX _(N=2) ,N*CFN _(—) DRX_(N=2)+1}  (18)

This relationship between multiple cells with different bandwidthscaling factors can also be represented by:

UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N=2 or 4) =N*UE _(—) DTX _(—)DRX_Offset_(N=1)  (19)

UE DRX_cycle_(N=1) =N*UE DRX cycle_(N=2 or 4) where N=2 or 4  (19a)

In some embodiments, according to equation (18), (19), and (19a), toalign a boundary, such as a starting boundary or an ending boundary (notshown), of each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-d across theHS-SCCH 406-f with each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 446-d acrossthe HS-SCCH 411-f, the DRX cycle 421-d of the secondary serving cell410-f may be multiplied by 2. In some cases, the UE DRX cycle 420-d andthe DRX cycle 421-d may be equal to 4 subframes. However, because theprimary serving cell 405-f is scaled by a bandwidth scaling factor N=2relative to the secondary serving cell 410-f with a bandwidth scalingfactor N=1, each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-d may be twiceas long as each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst 446-d. Bymultiplying the DRX cycle 421-d of the secondary serving cell 410-f by2, DRX alignment may be realized. For example, multiplying the DRX cycle421-d by 2, the periodicity of the secondary serving cell 410-f may bealigned with the periodicity of the primary serving cell 405-f such thateach of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-d across theHS-SCCH 406-f of the primary serving cell 405-f may begin at the sametime as/align with the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-d acrossthe HS-SCCH 411-f of the secondary serving cell 410-f. This may befurther be represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1)=2*UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=2)  (20)

UE DRX cycle_(N=1)=2*UE DRX cycle_(N=2)  (21)

By configuring the second serving cell 410-f in such a way, an “offtime” for DRX reception, e.g. a time between continuous monitoring ofthe secondary serving cell 410-f HS-SCCH 411-f for varied lengths oftime 440-d and 441-d, may be aligned with the primary serving cell 405-fHS-SCCH 406-f.

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=2) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=2), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420-d, may betransmitted to the UE 115 via RRC signaling, for instance, activatedafter an enabling delay period 415-f. These values may represent anoffset value and a cycle length. In some cases, these values may beappropriately scaled for other cells having different bandwidth scalingfactors, such as secondary serving cell 410-f, which has a bandwidthscaling factor N=1.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-d for thesecondary serving cell 410-f may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-f.

In some embodiments, multiplying the DRX cycle 421-d of the HS-SCCH411-f on the secondary serving cell 410-f by the bandwidth scalingfactor of the secondary serving cell relative to the primary servingcell 405-f, may further align other bursts across HS-SCCH 406-f andHS-SCCH 411-f, such as HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-d and HS-SCCH DRX burst426-d, HS-SCCH DRX burst 427-d and HS-SCCH DRX burst 428-d. However, insome cases, bursts 450-d and 451-d across the HS-PDSCH 407-f may notalign.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-f is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-f to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-f and theHS-SCCH 411-f are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-d, 431-c, 432-c, and/or433-d in the HS-SCCH 406-f subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-d,427-d and/or an HS-SCCH burst 435-e, 437-c is received by the UE 115 viathe HS-SCCH 406-f. In other cases, if only the HS-SCCH 411-f istransmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial to start aninactivity timer, such as 430-d, 431-c, 432-c, and/or 433-d in theHS-SCCH 406-f subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 426-d, 428-c and/or anHS-SCCH burst 436-e, 438-c is received by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH411-f.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420 and the DRX cycle 421 could be implemented, e.g. one onthe HS-SCCH 406-f for the primary serving cell 405-f and one on theHS-SCCH 411-f on the secondary serving cell 410-f.

Turning next to FIG. 4H, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-h, where for the primary serving cell 405-g, N=4, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-g, N=1. The configuration in FIG. 4G may beimplemented in an MC-HSDPA system. In some cases, a Downlink DRX patternon at least two cells in an MC-HSDPA system, including a primary cellwith a bandwidth scaling factor of N=2 or N=4 and a secondary servingcell with a bandwidth scaling factor N=1, may be represented by:

((5*CFN _(—) DRX _(N)−UE_(—) DTX _(—) DRX_Offset_(N) +S _(—) DRX_(N))MOD UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N))=0 where N=1,2, or 4  (22)

For the primary serving cell 405-g, where N=4, this relationship canfurther be represented by:

CFN _(—) DRX _(N=1) ={N*CFN _(—) DRX _(N=4) ,N*CFN _(—) DRX_(N=4)+1,N*CFN _(—) DRX _(N=4)+2,N*CFN _(—) DRX _(N=4)+3}  (23)

This relationship between multiple cells with different bandwidthscaling factors can also be represented generally by equations (19) and(19a).

In some embodiments, to align a boundary, such as a starting boundary oran ending boundary (not shown), of each required inactive HS-SCCH DRXburst 445-e across the HS-SCCH 406-g with each required inactive HS-SCCHDRX burst 446-e across the HS-SCCH 411-g, the DRX cycle 421-e of thesecondary serving cell 410-g may be multiplied by 4. In some cases, theUE DRX cycle 420-e and the DRX cycle 421-e may be equal to 4 subframes.However, because the primary serving cell 405-g is scaled by a bandwidthscaling factor N=4 relative to the secondary serving cell 410-g with abandwidth scaling factor N=1, each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst445-e may be twice as long as each required inactive HS-SCCH DRX burst446-e. By multiplying the DRX cycle 421-e by 4, DRX alignment may berealized. For example, multiplying the DRX cycle 421-e of the secondaryserving cell 410-g by 4, the periodicity of the secondary serving cell410-g may be aligned with the periodicity of the primary serving cell405-g such that each of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-eacross the HS-SCCH 406-g of the primary serving cell 405-g may begin orend at the same time as/align with the required inactive HS-SCCH DRXbursts 446-e across the HS-SCCH 411-g of the secondary serving cell410-g. This may be further be represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1)=4*UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=4)  (24)

UE DRX cycle_(N=1)=4*UE DRX cycle_(N=4)  (25)

By configuring the second serving cell 410-g in such a way, an “offtime” for DRX reception, e.g. a time between continuous monitoring ofthe secondary serving cell 410-g HS-SCCH 411-g for varied lengths oftime 440-e and 441-e, may be aligned with the primary serving cell 405-gHS-SCCH 406-g.

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=4) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=4), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420-e, may betransmitted to the UE 115 via RRC signaling, for instance, activatedafter an enabling delay period 415-g. These values may represent anoffset value and a cycle length. In some cases, these values may beappropriately scaled for other cells having different bandwidth scalingfactors, such as secondary serving cell 410-g, which has a bandwidthscaling factor N=1.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-e for thesecondary serving cell 410-g may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-g.

In some embodiments, multiplying the DRX cycle 421-e of the HS-SCCH411-g on the secondary serving cell 410-g by the bandwidth scalingfactor of the secondary serving cell relative to the primary servingcell 405-g, may further align other bursts across HS-SCCH 406-g andHS-SCCH 411-g, such as HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-e and HS-SCCH DRX burst426-e, HS-SCCH DRX burst 427-e and HS-SCCH DRX burst 428-e. However, insome cases, bursts 450-e and 451-e across the HS-PDSCH 412-g may notalign.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-g is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-g to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-g and theHS-SCCH 411-g are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-e and/or 433-e in theHS-SCCH 406-g subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-e, 427-e isreceived by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 406-g. In other cases, if onlythe HS-SCCH 411-g is transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start an inactivity timer, such as 430-e and/or 433-e inthe HS-SCCH 406-g subframe after, for example, an HS-SCCH DRX burst426-e, 428-d is received by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 411-g.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420-e and the DRX cycle 421-e could be implemented, e.g. oneon the HS-SCCH 406-g for the primary serving cell 405-g and one on theHS-SCCH 411-g on the secondary serving cell 410-g.

Turning next to FIG. 4I, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-h, where for the primary serving cell 405-h, N=2, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-h, N=1. For the secondary serving cell 410-h,the DRX cycle 421-f over the HS-SCCH 411-h is the same subframe lengthas UE DRX cycle 420-f, but because primary serving cell 405-h is dilatedwith respect to the secondary serving cell 410-f by a bandwidth scalingfactor of 2, the DRX cycle 421-f, although the same subframe length asthe UE DRX cycle 420-f (4 subframes), is half as long in time relativeto the UE DRX cycle 420-f of the primary serving cell 405-h.

In some embodiments, to align the respective DRX cycles of the primaryand secondary serving cells 405-h and 410-h, and more specifically therequired inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-f across the HS-SCCH 406-h withthe required inactive HS-SCCH

DRX bursts 446-f across the HS-SCCH 411-h, it may be useful to align aboundary of these bursts 445-f and 446-f. In some embodiments, this mayinclude aligning a starting boundary or an ending boundary (not shown)of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-f with the correspondingboundary of the required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-f. In somecases, because the HS-SCCH 406-h of the primary serving cell 405-h isscaled by a factor of 2 with respect to the HS-SCCH 411-h of thesecondary serving cell 405-h, each HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-f may alignwith every other HS-SCCH DRX burst 446-f. In other words, this mayresult in an aligned DRX pattern for the respective cells, but with alonger “off time” for the primary serving cell 405-h. Also, becauseprimary serving cell 405-h is scaled by a factor of 2 with respect tothe secondary serving cell 410-f, each HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-f may betwice as long as each HS-SCCH DRX burst 446-f. This configuration mayfurther represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1)=2*UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=2)  (26)

UE DRX cycle_(N=1)=Non-dilated UE DRX cycle_(N=2)  (27)

In broader terms, this relationship may be represented for any two cellswith different bandwidth scaling factors by:

UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N=1)=Non-dilated UE_(—) DRX_cycle_(N=2 or 4)  (28)

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=1) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=1), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420-f, may betransmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRC signaling, for instance,activated after an enabling delay period 415-h. These values mayrepresent an offset value and a cycle length. In some cases, thesevalues may be appropriately scaled for other cells having differentbandwidth scaling factors, such as secondary serving cell 410-h, whichhas a bandwidth scaling factor N=1.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-f for thesecondary serving cell 410-h may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-h.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-h is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-h to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-h and theHS-SCCH 411-h are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-f, 431-d, 432-d, and/or433-f in the HS-SCCH 406-h subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-f,427-f, and or an HS-SCCH burst 435-f, 437-d is received by the UE 115via the HS-SCCH 406-h. In other cases, if only the HS-SCCH 411-h istransmitted to the UE 115, then it may be beneficial to start aninactivity timer, such as 430-f, 431-d, 432-d, and/or 433 in the HS-SCCH406-h subframe after, for example, an HS-SCCH DRX burst 426-f, 428-eand/or an HS-SCCH burst 436-f, 438-d is received by the UE 115 via theHS-SCCH 411-h.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420-f and the DRX cycle 421-f could be implemented, e.g. oneon the HS-SCCH 406-h for the primary serving cell 405-h and one on theHS-SCCH 411-h on the secondary serving cell 410-h.

Turning next to FIG. 4J, a timing diagram illustrates a configuration400-i, where for the primary serving cell 405-i, N=4, and for thesecondary serving cell 410-i, N=1. For the secondary serving cell 410-i,the DRX cycle 421-g over the HS-SCCH 411-i is the same subframe lengthas UE DRX cycle 420-g, but because primary serving cell 405-i is dilatedwith respect to the secondary serving cell 410-g by a bandwidth scalingfactor of 4, the DRX cycle 421-g, although the same subframe length asthe UE DRX cycle 420-g (4 subframes), is one fourth as long in timerelative to the UE DRX cycle 420-g of the primary serving cell 405-i.

In some embodiments, to align the respective DRX cycles of the primaryand secondary serving cells 405-i and 410-i, and more specifically therequired inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-g across the HS-SCCH 406-g withthe required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-g across the HS-SCCH 411-i,it may be useful to align a boundary of these bursts 445-g and 446-g. Insome embodiments, this may include aligning a starting boundary of therequired inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 445-g with the starting boundary ofthe required inactive HS-SCCH DRX bursts 446-g. In some cases, becausethe HS-SCCH 406-i of the primary serving cell 405-i is scaled by afactor of 4 with respect to the HS-SCCH 411-i of the secondary servingcell 405-i, each HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-g may align with every fifthHS-SCCH DRX burst 446-g. In other words, this may result in an alignedDRX pattern for the respective cells, but with a longer “off time” forthe primary serving cell 405-i. Also, because primary serving cell 405-iis scaled by a factor of 4 with respect to the secondary serving cell410-g, each HS-SCCH DRX burst 445-g may be four times as long as eachHS-SCCH DRX burst 446-g. This configuration may further represented by:

UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=1)=4*UE DTX DRX Offset_(N=4)  (29)

UE DRX cycle_(N=1)=Non-dilated UE DRX cycle_(N=4)  (30)

In some embodiments, values for the UE DTX DRX OFFSET_(N=1) and the UEDRX cycle_(N=1), which may correspond to UE DRX cycle 420-g, may betransmitted to/received by the UE 115 via RRC signaling, for instance,activated after an enabling delay period 415-i. These values mayrepresent an offset value and a cycle length. In some cases, thesevalues may be appropriately scaled for other cells having differentbandwidth scaling factors, such as secondary serving cell 410-i, whichhas a bandwidth scaling factor N=1.

In some embodiments, adjusting a length of the DRX cycle 421-g for thesecondary serving cell 410-i may result in either an increase or adecrease in a number of monitored subframes with respect to the primaryserving cell 405-i.

In some cases, if the HS-SCCH 406-i is transmitted via the primaryserving cell 405-i to the UE 115, or if the HS-SCCH 406-i and theHS-SCCH 411-i are both transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start the inactivity timer 430-g and/or 433-g in theHS-SCCH 406-i subframe after an HS-SCCH DRX burst 425-g, 427-g isreceived by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 406-i. In other cases, if onlythe HS-SCCH 411-i is transmitted to the UE 115, then it may bebeneficial to start an inactivity timer, such as 430-g and/or 433-g inthe HS-SCCH 406-i subframe after, for example, an HS-SCCH DRX burst426-g, 428-f is received by the UE 115 via the HS-SCCH 411-i.

In alternative embodiments, two separate inactivity timers for the UEDRX cycle 420-g and the DRX cycle 421-g could be implemented, e.g. oneon the HS-SCCH 406-i for the primary serving cell 405-i and one on theHS-SCCH 411-i on the secondary serving cell 410-i.

Turning next to FIG. 5A, a block diagram illustrates a device 500 thatincludes DRX functionality in a multicarrier system that utilizes one ormore flexible bandwidth carriers in accordance with various embodiments.The device 500 may be an example of aspects of: the base stations 105 ofFIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and/or FIG. 3, and/or the user equipment 115of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and/or FIG. 3, and/or the controller120/core network 130 of FIG. 1; and or aspects of systems 400-a, 400-b,400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i, and/or 400-j of FIGS.4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J. The device 500 mayinclude a receiver module 505, a DRX alignment module 510, and atransmitter module 515. Each of these components may be in communicationwith each other. In some cases, device 500 may be a UE, such as UE 115of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and/or FIG. 3.

These components of the device 500 may, individually or collectively, beimplemented with one or more application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions inhardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or moreother processing units (or cores), on one or more integrated circuits.In other embodiments, other types of integrated circuits may be used(e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), and other Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each unit may also beimplemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in amemory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

The receiver module 505 may receive information such as packet, data,and/or signaling information regarding what device 500 has received. Thereceived information may be utilized by the device 500 for differentpurposes. The transmitter module 515 may transmit information such aspackets, data, or signaling information regarding what device 500 hasprocessed. The transmitted information may be utilized by variousnetwork entities for different purposes, as described below.

The DRX alignment module 510 may be configured to perform a method ofdiscontinuous reception (DRX) in a multicarrier system that utilizes oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers. For example, the DRX alignmentmodule 510 may be configured to identify a DRX cycle for a first cell.The DRX alignment module 510 may further be configured to adjust aboundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell such that the boundary forthe DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with a boundary for the DRXcycle for the first cell, wherein at least the first cell or the secondcell includes one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. In someembodiments, the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell and theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell may both comprise atleast a starting boundary or an ending boundary. In some cases, a periodof the DRX cycle for the second cell may be different from a period ofthe DRX cycle for the first cell.

In some cases, the DRX alignment module 510 may be further configured toadjust a length of the DRX cycle for the second cell to either increaseor decrease a number of monitored subframes with respect to the firstcell. In some cases, the DRX alignment module 510 may also identify aperiodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell and adjust a periodicityof the DRX cycle for the second cell at least to coincide or be scaledby a bandwidth scaling factor with respect to the periodicity of the DRXcycle for the first cell. The DRX alignment module 510 may also ignorean initial assigned subframe for a DRX order for the second cell thatoverlaps an enabling or activation delay for the first cell to furtheraid in aligning the DRX cycles of the first and second cells. The DRXalignment module 510 may also facilitate adjusting the boundary for theDRX cycle for the second cell by transmitting to and/or receiving atleast one or more offsets or cycle lengths. In some embodiments, the DRXalignment module 510 may be located at a UE 115. The receiver module 505and/or the transmitter module 515 may also be located at the UE 115. Inother embodiments, the receiver module 505, the DRX alignment module510, and/or the transmitter module 15 may be located at differentnetwork entities and may coordinate via the backhaul, air interfaces,etc.

In some embodiments, the first cell may include a normal bandwidthcarrier and the second cell may include one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. In some embodiments, the first cell may include a flexiblebandwidth carrier and the second cell may include one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In some cases, theflexible bandwidth of the first cell may be greater than the flexiblebandwidth of the second cell.

In some embodiments, the first cell may include one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers and the second cell may include a normal bandwidthcarrier. In some embodiments, the first cell may include one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell may include one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In somecases, the flexible bandwidth of the first cell may be less than theflexible bandwidth of the second cell.

In some embodiments, the first cell may include a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 1 and the second cell includes a bandwidth scalingfactor equal to 2 or 4. In other embodiments, the first cell includes abandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4 and the second cell includes abandwidth scaling factor equal to 1.

Turning next to FIG. 5B, a block diagram illustrates a device 500-a thatincludes signaling alignment functionality in a multicarrier system thatutilizes one or more flexible bandwidth carriers in accordance withvarious embodiments. The device 500-a may be an example of aspects of:the base stations 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and/or FIG. 3, theuser equipment 115 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, and/or FIG. 3, and/orthe controller 120/core network 130 of FIG. 1; and or aspects of 400-a,400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i, and/or 400-j ofFIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J.

The device 500-a may include a receiver module 505, a first cell DRXidentification module 511, a second cell DRX adjustment module 512, anda transmitter module 515. Each of these components may be incommunication with each other. In some embodiments, the DRX alignmentmodule 510-a, which may incorporate some or all aspects of the DRXalignment module 510 of FIG. 5A, may include the first cell DRXidentification module 511 and the second cell DRX adjustment module 512.Device 500-a, which may be a UE 115, may include some or all aspects of,or may implement some or all of the functionality of, device 500 asdescribed above in reference to FIG. 5A.

The components of the device 500-a may, individually or collectively, beimplemented with one or more application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs) adapted to perform some or all of the applicable functions inhardware. Alternatively, the functions may be performed by one or moreother processing units (or cores), on one or more integrated circuits.In other embodiments, other types of integrated circuits may be used(e.g., Structured/Platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), and other Semi-Custom ICs), which may be programmed in anymanner known in the art. The functions of each unit may also beimplemented, in whole or in part, with instructions embodied in amemory, formatted to be executed by one or more general orapplication-specific processors.

The receiver module 505 may receive information such as packet, data,and/or signaling information regarding what device 500-a has received.The received information may be utilized by the device 500-a fordifferent purposes. The transmitter module 515 may transmit informationsuch as packets, data, or signaling information regarding what device500-a has processed. The transmitted information may be utilized byvarious network entities for different purposes as described herein.

The first cell DRX identification module 511 may be configured toidentify a DRX cycle for a first cell in a multicarrier system thatutilizes one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. The second cell DRXadjustment module 512 may be configured to adjust a boundary for a DRXcycle for a second cell such that the boundary for the DRX cycle for thesecond cell coincides with a boundary for the DRX cycle for the firstcell. In some embodiments, the boundary for the DRX cycle for the firstcell and the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell may bothcomprise at least a starting boundary or an ending boundary.

As described above in reference to FIGS. 4A-4I, DRX cycle misalignmentacross cells can cause an increase/ineffective utilization of powerresources, particularly by a UE 115, because the receiver module 505 isrequired to listen for a longer period of time per DRX cycle toaccurately receive messages over the HS-SCCH channel. This is especiallythe case where a period of the DRX cycle for the second cell isdifferent from a period of the DRX cycle for the first cell. To accountfor this periodicity difference, the first cell DRX identificationmodule 511 may also identify a periodicity of the DRX cycle for thefirst cell. The second cell DRX adjustment module 512 maycorrespondingly adjust a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the secondcell at least to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factorwith respect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell, asis described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 4B, 4E, 4H, and4J above.

In some cases, the second cell DRX adjustment module 512 may be furtherconfigured to adjust a length of the DRX cycle for the second cell toeither increase or decrease a number of monitored subframes with respectto the first cell. This may be another way to address differentperiodicities across multiple carriers for DRX cycle alignment.Furthermore, the second cell DRX adjustment module 512 may ignore aninitial assigned subframe for a DRX order for the second cell thatoverlaps an enabling or activation delay for the first cell to furtheraid in aligning the DRX cycles of the first and second cells, asdescribed in greater detail above with respect to FIGS. 4C and 4F.

In some embodiments, the transmitter module 515 may transmit at leastone or more offsets or cycle lengths, or alternatively the receivermodule 505 may receive one or more offsets or cycle lengths, dependingon whether these modules are located at a base station 105 or a UE 115,respectively. The offsets or cycles lengths may be determined by thesecond cell DRX adjustment module 512, and communicated to thetransmitter module 515.

In some embodiments, the first cell DRX identification module 511 and/orthe second cell DRX adjustment module 512 may be located at a UE 115.The receiver module 505 and/or the transmitter module 515 may also belocated at the UE 115. In other embodiments, the receiver module 505,the first cell DRX identification module 511, the second cell DRXadjustment module 512, and/or the transmitter module 15 may be locatedat different network entities and may coordinate via the backhaul, airinterfaces, etc.

In some embodiments, the first cell includes a normal bandwidth carrierand the second cell may include one or more flexible or scalablebandwidth carriers. In some embodiments, the first cell may include aflexible bandwidth carrier and the second cell may include one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In somecases, the flexible bandwidth of the first cell is greater than theflexible bandwidth of the second cell.

In some embodiments, the first cell includes one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers and the second cell includes a normal bandwidthcarrier. In some embodiments, the first cell includes one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell includes one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In somecases, the flexible bandwidth of the first cell is less than theflexible bandwidth of the second cell.

In some embodiments, the first cell includes a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 1 and the second cell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equalto 2 or 4. In other embodiments, the first cell includes a bandwidthscaling factor equal to 2 or 4 and the second cell includes a bandwidthscaling factor equal to 1.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a communications system 600 that may beconfigured for DRX in a multicarrier system that utilizes one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers in accordance with various embodiments. Thissystem 600 may include aspects of the system 100 depicted in FIG. 1,systems 200-a and 200-b of FIGS. 2A and 2B, system 300 of FIG. 3, and/orsystems 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i,and/or 400-j of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J;and/or devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5A and/or 5B. The base station105-d may include aspects of a controller 120-a and/or a core network130-a in some cases. The base station 105-d may include antennas 645, atransceiver module 650, memory 670, and a processor module 665, whicheach may be in communication, directly or indirectly, with each other(e.g., over one or more buses). The transceiver module 650 may beconfigured to communicate bi-directionally, via the antennas 645, withthe user equipment 115-d, which may be a multi-mode user equipment. Thetransceiver module 650 (and/or other components of the base station105-d) may also be configured to communicate bi-directionally with oneor more networks. In some cases, the base station 105-d may communicatewith the network 130-a through network communications module 675. Basestation 105-d may be an example of an eNodeB base station, a Home eNodeBbase station, a NodeB base station, a Radio Network Controller (RNC),and/or a Home NodeB base station.

Base station 105-d may also communicate with other base stations 105,such as base station 105-e and base station 105-f. Each of the basestations 105 may communicate with user equipment 115-d using differentwireless communications technologies, such as different Radio AccessTechnologies. In some cases, base station 105-d may communicate withother base stations such as 105-e and/or 105-f utilizing base stationcommunication module 631. In some embodiments, base stationcommunication module 631 may provide an X2 interface within an LTEwireless communication technology to provide communication between someof the base stations 105. In some embodiments, base station 105-d maycommunicate with other base stations through controller 120-a and/ornetwork 130-a.

The memory 670 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 670 may also store computer-readable,computer-executable software code 671 containing instructions that areconfigured to, when executed, cause the processor module 665 to performvarious functions described herein (e.g., call processing, databasemanagement, message routing, etc.). Alternatively, the software 671 maynot be directly executable by the processor module 665 but be configuredto cause the computer, e.g., when compiled and executed, to performfunctions described herein.

The processor module 665 may include an intelligent hardware device,e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) such as those made by Intel®Corporation or AMD®, a microcontroller, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor module 665 may include aspeech encoder (not shown) configured to receive audio via a microphone,convert the audio into packets (e.g., 20 ms in length) representative ofthe received audio, provide the audio packets, and/or provideindications of whether a user is speaking.

The transceiver module 650 may include a modem configured to modulatethe packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas 645 fortransmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antennas 645.While some examples of the base station 105-d may include a singleantenna 645, the base station 105-d preferably includes multipleantennas 645 for multiple links which may support carrier aggregation.For example, one or more links may be used to support macrocommunications with user equipment 115-d.

According to the architecture of FIG. 6, the base station 105-d mayfurther include a communications management module 630. By way ofexample, the communications management module 630 may be a component ofthe base station 105-d in communication with some or all of the othercomponents of the base station 105-d via a bus. Alternatively,functionality of the communications management module 630 may beimplemented as a component of the transceiver module 650, as a computerprogram product, and/or as one or more controller elements of theprocessor module 665.

The components for base station 105-d may be configured to implementaspects discussed above with respect to device 500 of FIG. 5A and/ordevice 500-a of FIG. 5B and/or configurations of systems 400-a, 400-b,400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i, and/or 400-j of FIGS.4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J and may not be repeatedhere for the sake of brevity. The cell DRX identification module 511-amay be an example of the first cell DRX identification module 511 ofFIG. 5B. The cell DRX adjustment module 512-a may be an example of thesecond cell DRX adjustment module 512 of FIG. 5B. Furthermore, DRXalignment module 510-b, which may include the cell DRX identificationmodule 511-a and the cell DRX adjustment module 512-a, may be an exampleof the DRX alignment module 510 of FIG. 5A and/or the DRX alignmentmodule 510-a of FIG. 5B.

The base station 105-d may also include a spectrum identification module(not shown). The spectrum identification module may be utilized toidentify spectrum available for flexible bandwidth waveforms. In someembodiments, a handover module 625 may be utilized to perform handoverprocedures of the user equipment 115-d from one base station 105 toanother. For example, the handover module 625 may perform a handoverprocedure of the user equipment 115-d from base station 105-d to anotherwhere normal waveforms are utilized between the user equipment 115-d andone of the base stations and flexible bandwidth waveforms are utilizedbetween the user equipment and another base station. A bandwidth scalingmodule 627 may be utilized to scale and/or alter chip rates and/or timeto generate flexible bandwidth waveforms.

In some embodiments, the transceiver module 650 in conjunction withantennas 645, along with other possible components of base station105-d, may transmit and/or receive information regarding flexiblebandwidth waveforms and/or scaling factors from the base station 105-dto the user equipment 115-d, to other base stations 105-e/105-f, or corenetwork 130-a. In some embodiments, the transceiver module 650 inconjunction with antennas 645, along with other possible components ofbase station 105-d, may transmit and/or receive information to or fromthe user equipment 115-d, to or from other base stations 105-e/105-f, orcore network 130-a, such as flexible bandwidth waveforms and/or scalingfactors, such that these devices or systems may utilize flexiblebandwidth waveforms.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 of a user equipment 115-e configured inaccordance with various embodiments. The user equipment 115-e may haveany of various configurations, such as personal computers (e.g., laptopcomputers, netbook computers, tablet computers, etc.), cellulartelephones, PDAs, digital video recorders (DVRs), internet appliances,gaming consoles, e-readers, etc. The user equipment 115-e may have aninternal power supply (not shown), such as a small battery, tofacilitate mobile operation. In some embodiments, the user equipment115-e may implement aspects of the system 100 depicted in FIG. 1,systems 200-a and 200-b of FIGS. 2A and 2B, system 300 of FIG. 3,systems 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i,and/or 400-j of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J,and/or system 600 of FIG. 6; and/or devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5Aand/or 5B. The user equipment 115-e may be a multi-mode user equipment.The user equipment 115-e may further be referred to as a wirelesscommunications device in some cases.

The user equipment 115-e may include antennas 740, a transceiver module750, memory 780, and a processor module 770, which each may be incommunication, directly or indirectly, with each other (e.g., via one ormore buses). The transceiver module 750 is configured to communicatebi-directionally, via the antennas 740 and/or one or more wired orwireless links, with one or more networks, as described above. Forexample, the transceiver module 750 may be configured to communicatebi-directionally with base stations 105 of FIG. 1, FIGS. 2A and 2B, FIG.3, and/or FIG. 6, and/or with devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5A and 5B.The transceiver module 750 may include a modem configured to modulatethe packets and provide the modulated packets to the antennas 740 fortransmission, and to demodulate packets received from the antennas 740.While the user equipment 115-e may include a single antenna, the userequipment 115-e will typically include multiple antennas 740 formultiple links.

The memory 780 may include random access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 780 may store computer-readable,computer-executable software code 785 containing instructions that areconfigured to, when executed, cause the processor module 770 to performvarious functions described herein (e.g., call processing, databasemanagement, message routing, etc.). Alternatively, the software 785 maynot be directly executable by the processor module 770 but may beconfigured to cause the computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) toperform functions described herein.

The processor module 770 may include an intelligent hardware device,e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) such as those made by Intel®Corporation or AMD®, a microcontroller, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor module 770 may include aspeech encoder (not shown) configured to receive audio via a microphone,convert the audio into packets (e.g., 20 ms in length) representative ofthe received audio, provide the audio packets to the transceiver module750, and provide indications of whether a user is speaking.Alternatively, an encoder may only provide packets to the transceivermodule 750, with the provision or withholding/suppression of the packetitself providing the indication of whether a user is speaking. Theprocessor module 770 may also include a speech decoder that may performa reverse functionality as the speech encoder.

According to the architecture of FIG. 7, the user equipment 115-e mayfurther include a communications management module 760. Thecommunications management module 760 may manage communications withother user equipments 115. By way of example, the communicationsmanagement module 760 may be a component of the user equipment 115-e incommunication with some or all of the other components of the userequipment 115-e via a bus. Alternatively, functionality of thecommunications management module 760 may be implemented as a componentof the transceiver module 750, as a computer program product, and/or asone or more controller elements of the processor module 770.

The components for user equipment 115-e may be configured to implementaspects discussed above with respect to device 500 of FIG. 5A and/ordevice 500-a of FIG. 5B, system 600 of FIG. 6, and/or configurations ofsystems 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i,and/or 400-j of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J, andmay not be repeated here for the sake of brevity. The cell DRXidentification module 511-b may be an example of the first cell DRXidentification module 511 of FIG. 5B. The cell DRX adjustment module512-b may be an example of the second cell DRX adjustment module 512 ofFIG. 5B. Furthermore, DRX alignment module 510-c, which may include thecell DRX identification module 511-b and the cell DRX adjustment module512-b, may be an example of the DRX alignment module 510 of FIG. 5Aand/or the DRX alignment module 510-a of FIG. 5B.

The user equipment 115-e may also include a spectrum identificationmodule (not shown). The spectrum identification module may be utilizedto identify spectrum available for flexible bandwidth waveforms. In someembodiments, a handover module 725 may be utilized to perform handoverprocedures of the user equipment 115-e from one base station to another.For example, the handover module 725 may perform a handover procedure ofthe user equipment 115-e from one base station to another where normalwaveforms are utilized between the user equipment 115-e and one of thebase stations and flexible bandwidth waveforms are utilized between theuser equipment and another base station. A bandwidth scaling module 77may be utilized to scale and/or alter chip rates and/or time togenerate/decode flexible bandwidth waveforms.

In some embodiments, the transceiver module 750, in conjunction withantennas 740, along with other possible components of user equipment115-e, may transmit information regarding flexible bandwidth waveformsand/or scaling factors from the user equipment 115-e to base stations ora core network. In some embodiments, the transceiver module 750, inconjunction with antennas 740, along with other possible components ofuser equipment 115-e, may transmit/receive information, such flexiblebandwidth waveforms and/or scaling factors, to/from base stations or acore network such that these devices or systems may utilize flexiblebandwidth waveforms.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a system 800 including a base station 105-gand a user equipment 115-f in accordance with various embodiments. Thesystem 800 may be an example of the system 100 of FIG. 1, systems 200-aand 200-b of FIGS. 2A and 2B, system 300 of FIG. 3, system 600 of FIG.6, system 700 of FIG. 7, and/or devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5A and5B. The base station 105-g may be equipped with antennas 834-a through834-x, and the user equipment 115-f may be equipped with antennas 852-athrough 852-n. At the base station 105-g, a transmit processor 820 mayreceive data from a data source. System 800 may be configured toimplement different aspects of the call flows and/or systems as shown inFIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J and/or theassociated descriptions.

The transmit processor 820 may process the data. The transmit processor820 may also generate reference symbols, and a cell-specific referencesignal. A transmit (TX) MIMO processor 830 may perform spatialprocessing (e.g., precoding) on data symbols, control symbols, and/orreference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streamsto the transmit modulators 832-a through 832-x. Each modulator 832 mayprocess a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) toobtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 832 may further process(e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the outputsample stream to obtain a downlink (DL) signal. In one example, DLsignals from modulators 832-a through 832-x may be transmitted via theantennas 834-a through 834-x, respectively. The transmit processor 820may receive information from a processor 840. The processor 840 may becoupled with a memory 842. The processor 840 may be configured togenerate flexible bandwidth waveforms through altering a chip rateand/or utilizing a scaling factor. In some embodiments, the processormodule 840 may be configured for dynamically adapting flexible bandwidthin accordance with various embodiments. The processor 840 maydynamically adjust one or more scale factors of the flexible bandwidthsignal associated with transmissions between base station 105-g and userequipment 115-f. These adjustments may be made based on information suchas traffic patterns, interference measurements, etc.

For example, within system 800, the processor 840 may further include aDRX alignment module 510-d configured to identify a DRX cycle for afirst cell. The DRX alignment module 510-d may further be configured toadjust a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell such that theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with a boundaryfor the DRX cycle for the first cell, wherein at least the first cell orthe second cell includes one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. TheDRX alignment module 510-d may be an example of or may incorporateaspects of the DRX alignment module 510, 510-a, 510-b, and 510-c ofFIGS. 5A, 5B, 6, and/or 7.

At the user equipment 115-f, the user equipment antennas 852-a through852-n may receive the DL signals from the base station 105-g and mayprovide the received signals to the demodulators 854-a through 854-n,respectively. Each demodulator 854 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify,downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain inputsamples. Each demodulator 854 may further process the input samples(e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. A MIMO detector 856may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators 854-a through854-n, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols, if applicable,and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 858 may process (e.g.,demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, providingdecoded data for the user equipment 115-f to a data output, and providedecoded control information to a processor 880, or memory 882.

On the uplink (UL) or reverse link, at the user equipment 115-f, atransmit processor 864 may receive and process data from a data source.The transmitter processor 864 may also generate reference symbols for areference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 864 may beprecoded by a transmit MIMO processor 866, if applicable, furtherprocessed by the demodulators 854-a through 854-n (e.g., for SC-FDMA,etc.), and be transmitted to the base station 105-g in accordance withthe transmission parameters received from the base station 105-g. Thetransmit processor 864 may also be configured to generate flexiblebandwidth waveforms through altering a chip rate and/or utilizing ascaling factor; this may be done dynamically in some cases. The transmitprocessor 864 may receive information from processor 880. The processor880 may provide for different alignment and/or offsetting procedures.The processor 880 may also utilize scaling and/or chip rate informationto perform measurements on the other subsystems, perform handoffs to theother subsystems, perform reselection, etc. The processor 880 may invertthe effects of time stretching associated with the use of flexiblebandwidth through parameter scaling. At the base station 105-g, the ULsignals from the user equipment 115-f may be received by the antennas834, processed by the demodulators 832, detected by a MIMO detector 836,if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 838. Thereceive processor 838 may provide decoded data to a data output and tothe processor 840. In some embodiments, the processor 840 may beimplemented as part of a general processor, the transmit processor 830,and/or the receiver processor 838.

In some embodiments, the processor module 880 may be configured fordynamically adapting flexible bandwidth in accordance with variousembodiments. The processor 880 may dynamically adjust one or more scalefactors of the flexible bandwidth signal associated with transmissionsbetween base station 105-g and user equipment 115-f. These adjustmentsmay be made based on information such as traffic patterns, interferencemeasurements, etc.

For example, within system 800, the processor 880 may further include aDRX alignment module 510-e configured to identify a DRX cycle for afirst cell. The DRX alignment module 510-e may further be configured toadjust a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell such that theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with a boundaryfor the DRX cycle for the first cell, wherein at least the first cell orthe second cell includes one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. TheDRX alignment module 510-d may be an example of or may incorporateaspects of DRX alignment module 510, 510-a, 510-b, and 510-c of FIGS.5A, 5B, 6, and/or 7. Furthermore, the DRX alignment module 510-e maycoordinate and/or share functionality with the DRX alignment module510-d.

Turning to FIG. 9A, a flow diagram of a method 900 for DRX in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers is provided in accordance with various embodiments. Method 900may be implemented utilizing various wireless communications devicesand/or systems including, but not limited to: system 100 of FIG. 1,systems 200-a and 200-b of FIGS. 2A and 2B, system 300 of FIG. 3,systems 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i,and/or 400-j of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J,system 600 of FIG. 6, system 700 of FIG. 7, and/or system 800 of FIG. 8;the base stations 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, FIG. 6,and/or FIG. 8; the user equipment 115 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG.3, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and/or FIG. 8; the controller 120/core network 130 ofFIGS. 1 and/or 6; and/or devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5A and 5B.

At block 905, a DRX cycle for a first cell may be identified. At block910, a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell may be adjusted suchthat the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with aboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell, wherein at least thefirst cell or the second cell comprises at least one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers.

In some embodiments, the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first celland the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell may both compriseat least a starting boundary or an ending boundary. In some cases, aperiod of the DRX cycle for the second cell may be different from aperiod of the DRX cycle for the first cell.

In some cases, the method may further include adjusting a length of theDRX cycle for the second cell to either increase or decrease a number ofmonitored subframes with respect to the first cell. In some cases, themethod may include identifying a periodicity of the DRX cycle for thefirst cell and adjust a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the second cellat least to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factor withrespect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell. Aninitial assigned subframe for a DRX order for the second cell thatoverlaps an enabling or activation delay for the first cell may beignored to further aid in aligning the DRX cycles of the first andsecond cells.

In some embodiments, the method may include adjusting the boundary forthe DRX cycle for the second cell by transmitting to and/or receiving atleast one or more offsets or cycle lengths.

In some embodiments, the first cell may include a normal bandwidthcarrier and the second cell may include one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. In other embodiments, the first cell may include a flexiblebandwidth carrier and the second cell may include one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In some cases, theflexible bandwidth of the first cell is greater than the flexiblebandwidth of the second cell.

The methods for DRX can also be beneficially implemented when the firstcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the secondcell may include a normal bandwidth carrier. In some cases, the firstcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the secondcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers different fromthe first cell. The flexible bandwidth of the first cell may be lessthan the flexible bandwidth of the second cell.

In yet other cases, the methods described can be implemented where thefirst cell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1 and the secondcell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4. In some cases,the first cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4and the second cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1.

Turning to FIG. 9B, a flow diagram of a method 900-a for DRX in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers is provided in accordance with various embodiments. Method900-a may be implemented utilizing various wireless communicationsdevices and/or systems including, but not limited to: system 100 of FIG.1, systems 200-a and 200-b of FIGS. 2A and 2B, system 300 of FIG. 3,systems 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i,and/or 400-j of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J,system 600 of FIG. 6, system 700 of FIG. 7, and/or system 800 of FIG. 8;the base stations 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, FIG. 6,and/or FIG. 8; the user equipment 115 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG.3, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and/or FIG. 8; the controller 120/core network 130 ofFIGS. 1 and/or 6; and/or devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5A and 5B.Method 900-a may be an example of method 900 of FIG. 9A.

At block 905-a, a DRX cycle for a first cell may be identified. At block911, a length of the DRX cycle for the second cell may be adjusted toeither increase or decrease a number of monitored subframes with respectto the first cell. At least one of the first or second carriers mayinclude one or more flexible bandwidth carriers. At block 912, aninitial assigned subframe for a DRX order for the second cell thatoverlaps an enabling or activation delay for the first cell may beignored.

In some embodiments, the first cell may include a normal bandwidthcarrier and the second cell may include one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. In other embodiments, the first cell may include a flexiblebandwidth carrier and the second cell may include one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In some cases, theflexible bandwidth of the first cell is greater than the flexiblebandwidth of the second cell.

The methods for DRX can also be beneficially implemented when the firstcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the secondcell may include a normal bandwidth carrier. In some cases, the firstcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the secondcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers different fromthe first cell. The flexible bandwidth of the first cell may be lessthan the flexible bandwidth of the second cell.

In yet other cases, the methods described can be implemented where thefirst cell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1 and the secondcell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4. In some cases,the first cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4and the second cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1.

Turning to FIG. 9C, a flow diagram of a method 900-b for DRX in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers is provided in accordance with various embodiments. Method900-b may be implemented utilizing various wireless communicationsdevices and/or systems including, but not limited to: system 100 of FIG.1, systems 200-a and 200-b of FIGS. 2A and 2B, system 300 of FIG. 3,systems 400-a, 400-b, 400-c, 400-d, 400-e, 400-f, 400-g, 400-h, 400-i,and/or 400-j of FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 4G, 4H, 4I, and/or 4J,system 600 of FIG. 6, system 700 of FIG. 7, and/or system 800 of FIG. 8;the base stations 105 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, FIG. 6,and/or FIG. 8; the user equipment 115 of FIG. 1, FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG.3, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and/or FIG. 8; the controller 120/core network 130 ofFIGS. 1 and/or 6; and/or devices 500 and 500-a of FIGS. 5A and 5B.Method 900-b may be an example of method 900 of FIG. 9A.

At block 905-a, a DRX cycle for a first cell may be identified. At block907, a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell may beidentified. At least one of the first or second carriers may include oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers. At block 913, a periodicity of theDRX cycle for the second cell may be adjusted to at least to coincide orbe scaled by a bandwidth scaling factor with respect to the periodicityof the DRX cycle for the first cell

In some embodiments, the first cell may include a normal bandwidthcarrier and the second cell may include one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers. In other embodiments, the first cell may include a flexiblebandwidth carrier and the second cell may include one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers different from the first cell. In some cases, theflexible bandwidth of the first cell is greater than the flexiblebandwidth of the second cell.

The methods for DRX can also be beneficially implemented when the firstcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the secondcell may include a normal bandwidth carrier. In some cases, the firstcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers and the secondcell may include one or more flexible bandwidth carriers different fromthe first cell. The flexible bandwidth of the first cell may be lessthan the flexible bandwidth of the second cell.

In yet other cases, the methods described can be implemented where thefirst cell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1 and the secondcell includes a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4. In some cases,the first cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4and the second cell may include a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1.

The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appendeddrawings describes exemplary embodiments and does not represent the onlyembodiments that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “exemplary” used throughout this description means“serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred”or “advantageous over other embodiments.” The detailed descriptionincludes specific details for the purpose of providing an understandingof the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practicedwithout these specific details. In some instances, well-known structuresand devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuringthe concepts of the described embodiments.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate ortransistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combinationthereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Ageneral-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope and spirit of the disclosure and appended claims. For example,due to the nature of software, functions described above can beimplemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware,hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementingfunctions may also be physically located at various positions, includingbeing distributed such that portions of functions are implemented atdifferent physical locations. Also, as used herein, including in theclaims, “or” as used in a list of items prefaced by “at least one of”indicates a disjunctive list such that, for example, a list of “at leastone of A, B, or C” means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., Aand B and C).

Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be anyavailable medium that can be accessed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation,computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code means in the form of instructions or data structures andthat can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer,or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if thesoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable aperson skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Variousmodifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may beapplied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scopeof the disclosure. Throughout this disclosure the term “example” or“exemplary” indicates an example or instance and does not imply orrequire any preference for the noted example. Thus, the disclosure isnot to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is tobe accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of discontinuous reception (DRX) in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers, the method comprising: identifying a DRX cycle for a firstcell; and adjusting a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell suchthat the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with aboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell, wherein at least thefirst cell or the second cell comprises at least one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theboundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell and the boundary for theDRX cycle for the second cell both comprise at least a starting boundaryor an ending boundary.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein a period of theDRX cycle for the second cell is different from a period of the DRXcycle for the first cell.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:adjusting a length of the DRX cycle for the second cell to eitherincrease or decrease a number of monitored subframes with respect to thefirst cell.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying aperiodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell; and adjusting aperiodicity of the DRX cycle for the second cell at least to coincide orbe scaled by a bandwidth scaling factor with respect to the periodicityof the DRX cycle for the first cell.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting to or receiving at a user equipment (UE) atleast one or more offsets or cycle lengths to facilitate adjusting theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell.
 7. The method of claim1, further comprising: ignoring an initial assigned subframe for a DRXorder for the second cell that overlaps an enabling or activation delayfor the first cell.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first cellcomprises a normal bandwidth carrier and the second cell comprises oneof the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein the first cell comprises a flexible bandwidth carrier and thesecond cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriersdifferent from the first cell.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein thefirst cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriersand the second cell comprises a normal bandwidth carrier.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first cell comprises one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell comprises one of the oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell. 12.The method of claim 8, wherein the first cell comprises a bandwidthscaling factor equal to 1 and the second cell comprises a bandwidthscaling factor equal to 2 or
 4. 13. A system for discontinuous reception(DRX) in a multicarrier system that utilizes one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers, the system comprising: means for identifying a DRXcycle for a first cell; and means for adjusting a boundary for a DRXcycle for a second cell such that the boundary for the DRX cycle for thesecond cell coincides with a boundary for the DRX cycle for the firstcell, wherein at least the first cell or the second cell comprises atleast one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers.
 14. The systemof claim 13, wherein the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first celland the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell both comprise atleast a starting boundary or an ending boundary.
 15. The system of claim13, wherein a period of the DRX cycle for the second cell is differentfrom a period of the DRX cycle for the first cell.
 16. The system ofclaim 13, further comprising: means for adjusting a length of the DRXcycle for the second cell to either increase or decrease a number ofmonitored subframes with respect to the first cell.
 17. The system ofclaim 13, further comprising: means for identifying a periodicity of theDRX cycle for the first cell; and means for adjusting a periodicity ofthe DRX cycle for the second cell at least to coincide or be scaled by abandwidth scaling factor with respect to the periodicity of the DRXcycle for the first cell.
 18. The system of claim 13, furthercomprising: means for transmitting to or receiving at a user equipment(UE) at least one or more offsets or cycle lengths to facilitateadjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell.
 19. Thesystem of claim 13, further comprising: means for ignoring an initialassigned subframe for a DRX order for the second cell that overlaps anenabling or activation delay for the first cell.
 20. The system of claim13, wherein the first cell comprises a normal bandwidth carrier and thesecond cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers.
 21. The system of claim 13, wherein the first cell comprises aflexible bandwidth carrier and the second cell comprises one of the oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell. 22.The system of claim 13, wherein the first cell comprises one of the oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell comprises anormal bandwidth carrier.
 23. The system of claim 13, wherein the firstcell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers andthe second cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers different from the first cell.
 24. The system of claim 20,wherein the first cell comprises a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1and the second cell comprises a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or4.
 25. A computer program product for discontinuous reception (DRX) in amulticarrier system that utilizes one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers, the computer program product comprising: a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium comprising: code for identifying a DRX cyclefor a first cell; and code for adjusting a boundary for a DRX cycle fora second cell such that the boundary for the DRX cycle for the secondcell coincides with a boundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell,wherein at least the first cell or the second cell comprises at leastone of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers.
 26. The computerprogram product of claim 25, wherein the boundary for the DRX cycle forthe first cell and the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cellboth comprise at least a starting boundary or an ending boundary. 27.The computer program product of claim 25, wherein a period of the DRXcycle for the second cell is different from a period of the DRX cyclefor the first cell.
 28. The computer program product of claim 25,further comprising: code for adjusting a length of the DRX cycle for thesecond cell to either increase or decrease a number of monitoredsubframes with respect to the first cell.
 29. The computer programproduct of claim 25, further comprising: code for identifying aperiodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell; and code for adjustinga periodicity of the DRX cycle for the second cell at least to coincideor be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factor with respect to theperiodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell.
 30. The computerprogram product of claim 25, further comprising: code for transmittingto or receiving at a user equipment (UE) at least one or more offsets orcycle lengths to facilitate adjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle forthe second cell.
 31. The computer program product of claim 25, furthercomprising: code for ignoring an initial assigned subframe for a DRXorder for the second cell that overlaps an enabling or activation delayfor the first cell.
 32. The computer program product of claim 25,wherein the first cell comprises a normal bandwidth carrier and thesecond cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers.
 33. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein thefirst cell comprises a flexible bandwidth carrier and the second cellcomprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers differentfrom the first cell.
 34. The computer program product of claim 25,wherein the first cell comprises one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers and the second cell comprises a normal bandwidthcarrier.
 35. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein the firstcell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriers andthe second cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidthcarriers different from the first cell.
 36. The computer program productof claim 32, wherein the first cell comprises a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 1 and the second cell comprises a bandwidth scaling factorequal to 2 or
 4. 37. A wireless communications device configured fordiscontinuous reception (DRX) in a multicarrier system that utilizes oneor more flexible bandwidth carriers, the device comprising: at least oneprocessor configured to: identify a DRX cycle for a first cell; andadjust a boundary for a DRX cycle for a second cell such that theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell coincides with a boundaryfor the DRX cycle for the first cell, wherein at least the first cell orthe second cell comprises at least one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers.
 38. The wireless communications device of claim 37,wherein the boundary for the DRX cycle for the first cell and theboundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell both comprise at least astarting boundary or an ending boundary.
 39. The wireless communicationsdevice of claim 37, wherein a period of the DRX cycle for the secondcell is different from a period of the DRX cycle for the first cell. 40.The wireless communications device of claim 37, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: adjust a length of the DRX cycle forthe second cell to either increase or decrease a number of monitoredsubframes with respect to the first cell.
 41. The wirelesscommunications device of claim 37, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: identify a periodicity of the DRX cycle for thefirst cell; and adjust a periodicity of the DRX cycle for the secondcell at least to coincide or be scaled by a bandwidth scaling factorwith respect to the periodicity of the DRX cycle for the first cell. 42.The wireless communications device of claim 37, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: transmit to or receive at a userequipment (UE) at least one or more offsets or cycle lengths tofacilitate adjusting the boundary for the DRX cycle for the second cell.43. The wireless communications device of claim 37, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to: ignore an initial assignedsubframe for a DRX order for the second cell that overlaps an enablingor activation delay for the first cell.
 44. The wireless communicationsdevice of claim 37, wherein the first cell comprises a normal bandwidthcarrier and the second cell comprises one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers.
 45. The wireless communications device of claim 37,wherein the first cell comprises a flexible bandwidth carrier and thesecond cell comprises one of the one or more flexible bandwidth carriersdifferent from the first cell.
 46. The wireless communications device ofclaim 37, wherein the first cell comprises one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers and the second cell comprises a normalbandwidth carrier.
 47. The wireless communications device of claim 37,wherein the first cell comprises one of the one or more flexiblebandwidth carriers and the second cell comprises one of the one or moreflexible bandwidth carriers different from the first cell.
 48. Thewireless communications device of claim 44, wherein the first cellcomprises a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 1 and the second cellcomprises a bandwidth scaling factor equal to 2 or 4.